Meet the opposition | Hull City
As Swansea City prepare to host Hull City at the Swansea.com Stadium, we look at the Tigers history, form and their key figures.
What's their story?
Established in 1904, Hull have spent long periods of their history in the lower reaches of the EFL, but have enjoyed one of the most successful periods in their history since the turn of the century.
Some 104 years after their formation they reached the top-flight for the first time under the stewardship of Phil Brown in 2008 as they beat Bristol City in the play-off final.
They spent two years in the Premier League and have had two further stints in the elite division since, with the most recent ending in 2017.
The Tigers briefly fell into League One in 2020, but bounced straight back to the Championship at the first attempt before finishing 19th last term.
The closest they have come to winning a major honour was in 2014, when they reached the FA Cup final before losing 3-2 to Arsenal after extra-time.
How's their form?
After a promising start to the campaign, which saw them as high as third in the Championship table, the Tigers enter Saturday’s game off the back of just one win in the last six league outings.
Back-to-back defeats to Sheffield United, Queens Park Rangers and Stoke have punctured some of the early-season optimism.
The Tigers do, however, possess the league's top goal scorer in Oscar Estupinan who’s seven goals in nine games, including a hat-trick in a 3-2 win against Coventry, mark him out as a real dangerman.
Who’s the gaffer?
Shota Arveladze. The former Georgian international striker Shota has been at the helm since January 2022 after the departure of Grant McCann.
Ex-Rangers hitman Arveladze was no stranger to finding the back of the net in his playing days, scoring no less than 258 goals in 426 league appearances for clubs such as Dinamo Tbilisi, Ajax and AZ Alkmaar.
He remains his country’s leading goalscorer with 26 goals in 61 caps, including netting in a 5-0 win over Wales in qualifying for Euro 1996.
After his retirement from playing in 2008 Arveladze turned to coaching and was handed the assistant manager role at AZ, where he worked under Louis van Gaal, Ronald Koeman and Dick Advocaat.
Stints in charge of Kayserispor, Kasimpasa, Trabzonspor and Maccabi Tel Aviv followed.
His most recent management role prior to joining Hull came in Uzbekistan with Pakhtakor Tashkent FK where he won back-to-back league titles and a domestic treble in 2019, before leaving the following year.
Who's the captain?
Lewis Coyle. The Hull-born defender has taken the captain’s armband for the 2022-23 season after the departure of Richie Smallwood to Bradford.
Coyle, 26, has been a regular at the back for the Tigers since his arrival at the MKN Stadium from Fleetwood Town back in 2020, since appearing in 58 games and scoring on one occasion.
The former Leeds trainee's versatility has seen him play on either side of the Tigers’ defence, and earlier in his career he was linked with the likes of Chelsea and Barcelona.
Who are the key men?
Columbia international Óscar Estupiñán has started life at the MKM Stadium with a bang, scoring seven goals in nine games establishing him as a firm favourite with the home support.
The former Vitoria Guimaraes forward joined the club in the summer as a free agent on the back of a season which saw him hit the back of the net 15 times in 28 games for the Portuguese top-flight outfit.
Homegrown defender Jacob Greaves was named young player of the year for the second season running last term after a stellar season at the heart of the Tigers backline.
After helping the club to promotion in his breakout season in League One, centre-back Greaves played in every minute of all 46 league games for the Tigers last season, helping his team keep a tally of 15 clean sheets in the process.
Versatile Turkish midfielder Ozan Tufan is another new face for the Tigers this season. Tufan’s career experience has predominantly been garnered in his homeland, where he featured for Bursaspor and Fenerbahçe.
He had spells on loan with Alanyaspor and Watford, before moving to Hull for an undisclosed fee in the summer.
Tufan is comfortable operating in the middle of the park and on the right-hand side of midfield.
He has scored nine goals in 65 caps for his country.