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Richard Sutcliffe: Capital gains will prove crucial to Tigers' survival
HANDS up those who can name the Premier League side to have claimed the most points on the road in London this season?
Is it Manchester United during what is looking increasingly like being a successful pursuit of a third straight title? Is it Liverpool, the team who ended Chelsea's long unbeaten record at Stamford Bridge only for their challenge to implode amid a rash of draws at Anfield?
Or is it even one of the five clubs based in the capital who have no concerns about travel fatigue when making the short trip across town to take on one of their derby rivals?
The answer to all these, however, is a resounding 'no' with the 'Kings of London' mantle instead resting squarely on the shoulders of Hull City right now thanks to the Yorkshire upstarts having claimed a hugely impressive 10 points from five visits.
Manucho's last-gasp winner at Fulham on Wednesday night meant Roy Hodgson's side joined Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur in being vanquished on home soil in the capital by a Tigers outfit who have also claimed a battling point from last month's visit to Chelsea.
Only West Ham United, in fact, have taken all three points off the intrepid travellers from Phil Brown's men on a night when the 2-0 defeat was overshadowed by what turned out to be a serious injury suffered by record signing Jimmy Bullard.
This 10-point return is comfortably better than the likes of Manchester United (one win and two draws in four visits to London) and a Liverpool outfit whose draw at Arsenal and that win at Stamford Bridge has rather been spoilt by a 2-1 reverse at White Hart Lane. It also dwarfs the four clubs yet to claim even a point on their visits to London – Blackburn Rovers, Middlesbrough, Stoke City and West Brom – while even Arsenal's seven points from their four possible trips across the capital is a worse ratio than Hull's record of claiming two-thirds of the points available.
To illustrate just how impressive a record of 10 points from an available 15 in the capital is, if such a record had been repeated across all 38 games then it would yield 76 points – which last season would have been enough to claim the final Champions League place.
Perhaps the most pleasing aspect of Hull's record in London is that it is a deserved reward for their efforts.
Wednesday night's game might not have been a classic – indeed, with 15 minutes remaining of what had been a largely dour affair at the Cottage the chances of either side scoring seemed miniscule.
But there was little doubt that Hull's battling and determined display merited at least a draw, as did their efforts at Chelsea in February in a game that sparked the end of Luiz Felipe Scolari's short spell in charge at Stamford Bridge.
The Tigers were also full value for their wins at White Hart Lane and the Emirates Stadium earlier in the season with the latter being even more remarkable for the fact that Brown's men had fallen behind to the Gunners.
Admittedly, Hull could yet be pipped to this season's 'Kings of London' title by Aston Villa (nine points from four visits with a game at Fulham to come in May), Everton (six points from three ahead of trips to Chelsea and Fulham) and Chelsea who have drawn their only away game in the capital so far at Craven Cottage.
But there is little doubt that should the Tigers go on to achieve their goal of Premier League survival then every fan will point to the meetings with London opposition – remember Phil Brown's men have also beaten Fulham and West Ham at the KC Stadium – as being crucial.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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