Hull City manager Sergej Jakirovic says Oliver McBurnie needs more help in the final third after ending his wait for a first goal of the season against Brentford.
The striker scored from the penalty spot in Sunday’s 1-1 draw, marking his 50th appearance for Hull with his 20th goal for the club. That is the highest total by any Tigers player during the same period.
McBurnie has made more high-intensity pressures than any other player in the Premier League this season, with 554. His 275 pressures in the final third rank third among all players.
Jakirovic was pleased to see the forward score but believes Hull must provide him with more support when attacks develop down the flanks.
“It’s great for us to see Oli score,” said Jakirovic.
“It has not been easy for him to play this role because sometimes he is very alone in the box, and often he is one against two, especially when the ball goes wide.
“We must work on getting more numbers in the box in those situations because it will make us more dangerous and make our opponents drop back more as well.
“However, Oli certainly doesn’t suffer any confidence problems. I’d said to him that a goal will come, but more so, it is about performing all over the pitch – to win the ball and play it as we see him do so much.
“He takes pressure off us by doing this and winning free kicks.”
Both sides go into their meeting with 10 points from eight league matches. Ipswich also drew 1-1 in their previous game, recovering from a goal down to earn a point against Nottingham Forest.
The Tractor Boys adopted a more defensive approach after half-time and managed only one second-half shot, which came in the 92nd minute. Manager Gary O’Neil praised his players for showing the resilience needed to secure the result.
“We were never quite able to get our style to get on top of theirs, really. Maybe a little spell in the first half where we got some control,” said O’Neil.
“But yeah, one where we had to show a different side to make sure we got something from the game.
“We could have still won it, of course. We had some good moments; [Jack] Clarkey came on and had a big chance again.
“But one where togetherness and shutting up a little bit – going a little bit safer – managed to get us through to the finish line, and I’m proud of the players because it’s not easy to do that, so a good point for us.”
Mohamed Belloumi is the Hull player to watch. His 19 completed dribbles are the most in the Premier League this season, while his 61% success rate (19/31) is the best among players to have attempted at least 15.
For Ipswich, Julio Enciso has attempted more shots from outside the box than anyone else in the Premier League, with 17. His goal against Nottingham Forest came from distance.
This will be the first top-flight meeting between Hull and Ipswich, and the 1,456th fixture played in England’s top division, including the 946th in the Premier League. Hull are winless in their past five league games against Ipswich (D1 L4).
The Tigers won their opening two Premier League matches but are now without a victory in six (D4 L2), the longest such run in the division alongside Manchester United and Sunderland.
Ipswich, meanwhile, have conceded in each of their last 27 Premier League games – eight this season and the final 19 of 2024-25. Only Watford have had a longer run without a clean sheet, with 30 matches between March 2020 and January 2022.
The match is also the joint-earliest meeting between two promoted sides both carrying 10 or more points, matching West Brom (10) against Hull (17) on matchday nine in 2008-09.
Opta win probability: Hull City 45%; draw 26.9%; Ipswich Town 28.1%.
