The Brewers are preparing for their second season in the Championship and they will be coming up against six new opponents during the 2017/18 campaign. In this series, we look at the new clubs that will be joining us in the Championship. Here we take a look at Hull City.
The Tigers re-enter the Championship under the guidance of their fourth manager in just 12 months. Former Russia manager Leonid Slutsky was appointed earlier this month, replacing Marco Silva after the former Olympiacos manager departed the KCOM stadium for Watford.
Hull have been able to restore managerial certainty early into pre-season this year, a far-cry from the events of last summer. Steve Bruce left the Tigers just weeks before the start of the 2016/17 Premier League season.
Former Manchester United assistant Mike Phelan was placed in temporary charge and would later be given the job on a permanent basis. However, a string of bad results saw Silva take over in an attempt to save the club from relegation. Despite Hull noticeably improving under Silva, they would be relegated with a game to spare after a disastrous loss to Crystal Palace.
Slutsky won six of his 13 games in charge of Russia, also managing to draw 1-1 with England in their opening game of the 2016 European Championships. During his seven years at CSKA Moscow he won the Russian Premier League three times and the Russian Cup twice.
Despite Hull having never played more than two-consecutive seasons in the Premier League, this is the first time that the Tigers have suffered an immediate drop back to the second-tier. Hull will be hoping they can be more prolific in front of goal in the new campaign, having scored just 37 goals in the league last season, the third-lowest total. Abel Hernandez will be expected to rediscover his scoring touch at this level, with the Uruguay international scoring 20 goals in the 2015/16 Championship season.