Opposition watch: Who are Hull’s key players?

Fulham’s next Premier League clash comes up against this season’s surprise package in Hull City.

The Tigers began the season with a shock 2-0 win over Manchester United and have not looked back, also beating Coventry 1-0 and picking up credible draws against both Aston Villa and Chelsea.

They were defeated by Newcastle, but bounced back well to draw 2-2 with unbeaten Everton after the international break, and they now sit on nine points from their first six matches.

That makes them a side in form, quite the opposite of Fulham and they have plenty of players who are also in form this season.

We have pinpointed the three who we think Fulham most need to keep an eye on at Craven Cottage this weekend.

Three goals, two assists does the talking here and against Everton last Sunday, the Algerian was not even amongst the starting XI, but still came on to great effect to score the equalising goal at the MKM Stadium.

He is without a doubt the most important attacking player in this Hull side, and is a man whom the Tigers rely on to find their spark.

When picking up a highly valuable 2-2 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, Belloumi scored both goals for the Tigers and there can be no doubt that Fulham will need to keep their wits about them to stop him from thriving in West London for the second time this season.

Hull have scored eight goals thus far this campaign, of which Belloumi has been directly involved in five of them, so Fulham must clearly watch out for the 24-year-old.

Hull began their season with three clean sheets in their first three matches, and you have to put their goalkeeper down for a decent chunk of the responsibility there.

Tzolakis has made 21 saves, joint with Emiliano Martinez and Lukas Hornicek of Chelsea and Newcastle respectively, sitting behind only Caoimhin Kelleher (22) of Brentford and James Trafford (24) of Leeds for saves made this season.

That shows clearly his importance in Hull being in the position they are in, and the confidence defenders have from having a competent goalkeeper behind them is clear for all to see.

Hull’s entire season thus far has been built on their incredible defensive ability, and so you could make a case for virtually all of their defenders here.

If you look a bit deeper, though, there is one man in particular who sticks out when it comes to stats, and that is John Egan.

The Irishman has made a team-leading 42 clearances (sixth overall in the Premier League) and seven blocks (eighth overall).

Those both show his importance in the defensive solidity that has got Hull into the position they are in after six matches, and Fulham will hope they can get around Egan’s ability to frustrate attacks.