The KC Stadium will open its doors to the Hammers on Monday in a North versus South showdown. West Ham have only lost one more game than their opponents who have had a mostly indifferent start to the season, lying in ninth position after one win, one draw and one loss leaving them with four points, one point ahead of Monday’s opponents. French international Hatem Ben Arfa will be vying for a start against Hull even though he is short of match fitness. This game may be a tough ask for Ben Arfa given Hull’s reputed hatchet-style approach to the game. Another loan signing, Uruguayan star Ramirez may be handed a start. Hull City supporters will also be looking to fellow new signings Mohamed Diame and Abel Hernandez to add a further boost to the squad with belief amongst the supporters rife that their squad is capable of competing with any squad in the league.

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West Ham can take comfort from the fact that during the last five Premier league championship meetings between these two sides they have won four and lost only one while in the last ten meetings they have won six, drawn two and lost two. West Ham’s start to the season hasn’t made for wonderful reading, losing to Tottenham on the opening day, before a convincing win at Crystal Palace was the precursor to a thumping at home against Southampton.

On a positive note West Ham welcomed Alex Song on loan at the beginning of the season from Barcelona with the forward in an upbeat mood stating: “it was a very hard decision, because you have options of a lot of clubs who are playing in the champions league, but at the end of the day I chose West Ham because I wanted to come to the Premier league. This is a league which has given me a lot and I didn’t finish what I wanted to achieve here.”

Steve Bruce is facing his second season in charge at the KC Stadium, after having concluded some sensible business over the last year including bringing in Tom Ince and Robert Snodgrass to give some width and some attacking flair while the back four will no doubt benefit from the wealth of experience that Michael Dawson brings. Jake Livermore is now a permanent fixture, and with Hull city managing to reap four points from the opening three fixtures fans could be forgiven for being quietly optimistic about the season ahead.

A typical Steve Bruce’s side relies on defensive graft and midfield dynamism so these signings reflect his intent, to build a side able to compete in the top half of the Barclays Premier League table. Monday’s fixture is likely to be a full-blooded affair with West Ham likely to emerge the losers.

TIP: Hull City 2-1 West Ham

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