Hull City striker Oliver McBurnie says the team are written off for their trip to face Arsenal but are determined to cause a Premier League shock. The Tigers travel to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday to take on the league leaders, with manager Sergej Jakirovic’s side sitting 11th in the table on 11 points after nine games.

McBurnie, who scored in the recent 2-2 draw with Ipswich Town, acknowledged the scale of the challenge. "Arsenal away, you're already written off, no one expects anything of you, so you go there and try and ruffle a few feathers and get a result down there, it'd be nice," the Scotland international said. He added that such fixtures were circled at the start of the season. "It's one of those ones that probably a lot of the boys, at the start of the season, will be looking for them games, Arsenal away. The big ones, whatever team they see."

Underdog mentality

Hull City have lost just twice since their promotion and have already taken a point at Chelsea, beaten Manchester United, and drawn with Aston Villa this term. That resilience will be needed against an Arsenal side that sits 13 points clear of the Tigers at the summit. Mikel Arteta’s team, however, have shown vulnerability, suffering a 3-0 defeat at Brighton earlier in the campaign and a Carabao Cup exit at Fleetwood Town last week. They also survived a late scare in their midweek Champions League match in Prague.

Sergej Jakirovic will likely draw on the message former manager Chris Wilder used to give his players ahead of such daunting away fixtures. Hull’s recent form shows three draws and one loss from their last four outings, a sequence that includes stalemates with Ipswich, Brentford, and Everton.

Current context

The Tigers head to North London off the back of a 2-2 draw with Ipswich at the MKM Stadium, where McBurnie netted and provided an assist for Tim Iroegbunam. He also scored from the spot in the 1-1 draw with Brentford. With 11 goals scored and 10 conceded this season, Hull have a solid defensive base but will need their top scorer, M. Belloumi, to find his form against the league's best defence.

A positive result would be a major boost ahead of the international break and reinforce the team's growing reputation as tough opponents. The match kicks off at the Emirates on Saturday, 7 November.

First reported at hulldailymail.co.uk