Hull "did a Burnley" in midweek after they clung on for an improbable point as Manchester United bombarded their goal with chance after chance and goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic had a career evening with a string of excellent saves, including one that defied belief to keep out Juan Mata right on the goal-line.
They might have even pinched all three points too as former Liverpool player Lazar Markovic was a whisker away from outfoxing David De Gea with a clever attempt that came back off the post. It is certainly the sort of result that could be a bit of a springboard for the second-bottom club to build on and the quietly impressive new manager Marco Silva has now issued a rallying cry to get behind their cause in front of a full house at the KCOM Stadium.
Perhaps punters are latching on to the fact Silva does have an idea what he is doing and the money has trickled on to the hosts with the Reds up next up before a trip to Arsenal. I don't underestimate for a moment the pressure Jurgen Klopp's side were under when they hosted Chelsea on Tuesday with their season on the verge of disappearing down the plughole in the space of a week.
A loss to the leaders would have just about sunk any title hopes on the back of two cup competition exits and the way they pressed in the second half was commendable with a point just about keeping them in the discussion in terms of silverware. Klopp was his usual gregarious self in the post-match interview but nothing less than three points here will do - plain and simple.
Sadio Mane was given a late run-out on his return from the Africa Cup of Nations and should slot back in somewhere on the front line in a bid to provide an end product to the creativity with Roberto Firmino guilty of late in front of goal. It is surely asking too much to ask Jakupovic to repeat the dose in terms of his Old Trafford heroics and attempting to stem the tide for 180 minutes in a bid to frustrate two of England's biggest guns would be an extraordinary effort from the hosts. T
he shackles may as well come off for the visitors and I fancy Klopp's positive approach will pay off at last with a handy victory.
Hull without: Davies; Elmohamady A.; Henriksen M.; Keane W.; Luer; Mason R.
Liverpool: Ejaria; Grujic; Ings D.
Hull vs Liverpool prediction: 2 @ 1,45
