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Thierry Henry: Pressure on Hull and Newcastle makes Survival Sunday a must-watch

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Image: Thierry Henry: says Hull are playing Manchester United at the perfect time

The pressure will kick in for the players of Hull City and Newcastle on Survival Sunday – and according to Thierry Henry, that’s why it will be so unpredictable.

Steve Bruce knows only a victory will do against Manchester United, live on Sky Sports 3, if Hull are to survive – and if they pull that off then Newcastle will be relegated if they fail to beat West Ham, live on Sky Sports 1.

Henry was never involved in a relegation scrap during his illustrious career and admits the pressure is very different to the stress of pushing for titles or European qualification.

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Leicester, Newcastle and Manchester United all to win was 9/2, NOW 13/2 here.

However, he did score an equaliser for Arsenal in a 3-3 draw which relegated Sheffield Wednesday in 2000 and he reckons the players of West Ham and Manchester United will have no sympathy for their opponents on Sunday.

He told Sky Sports: “I celebrated that goal. You don’t feel bad about it. You have to play for your team and that’s how sport is. It’s not going to change.

“Some people scored goals that stopped me winning the title. You don’t think about it really. So that’s not difficult for Manchester United or West Ham.

“Will they have as much motivation as the Newcastle and Hull players? You could see the other day for example, the desire of Sunderland wanting to stay in the Premier League was a tiny bit stronger than Arsenal on the day.

“Newcastle, you would think, will be fired up to try to stay up and Hull City too. It’s virtually done for Manchester United to be fourth, so you would like to think the desire of Hull City and Newcastle will be stronger than anybody else.

“On the other hand, sometimes pressure kicks in and that’s when you don’t perform. If West Ham score first, the crowd will be questioning Newcastle and booing maybe.

“You can never tell what pressure can bring into the equation. Sometimes it drives you to do what Sunderland did against Arsenal and sometimes it goes totally the other way.”

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Henry says the situation is even more fascinating because the two games kick off at the same time and Newcastle’s players are not sure what they need to do to survive.

He added: “Look at Sunderland on Wednesday night. Because nobody else was playing they could carry on with what they were doing. They knew they only needed a draw and that was enough so they could focus on that.

“It wasn’t as if another team could score in another game and they would have to come out and attack Arsenal.

“On Sunday, Hull just have to win and hope for Newcastle to lose or draw, but it is not the same for Newcastle.

“Sometimes what is happening in another stadium can make you change the way that you are playing or the plan that you had for that game.

“If Hull City played before and Newcastle already knew the result, then they can approach that game in a different way. In any other game they might feel secure with a draw against West Ham, but they might feel they need to score quickly.

“It would be risky for Newcastle to play for a draw.”

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Both Hull and Newcastle have home advantage on Sunday and Henry feels that will be significant in the final outcome.

However, he feels Hull are fortunate because Manchester United, who need a highly improbable set of results to overtake Arsenal in third, have little to play for.

He said: “I would say it’s the perfect time to play United. They can’t finish third and they are sure to be fourth.

“I’m not saying it’s going to be easy but it’s the perfect time to play them. What else could Hull ask for? United are not playing for anything really.

“Newcastle have been way stronger at home than away – not lately obviously – but over the season and that could give them the edge to stay in the Prem.

“They have a last chance, at home, to stay up.”

Sunday’s other live Sky Sports match sees Sunderland, who secured their top-flight status with a draw at Arsenal in midweek, travel to Chelsea.

And Henry is expecting goals galore as Jose Mourinho’s side look to erase the memory of Monday’s defeat to West Brom and celebrate winning the Premier League in style.

“Sunderland did well to get a point at Arsenal. I didn’t fancy them going to the Bridge and getting a point, especially after the 3-0 at West Brom. That won’t go down too well at Chelsea, especially with Mourinho.

“I’m sure they want to give their fans a win to say goodbye and leave them happy before the break, especially after losing to West Brom in the way they did.

“I think Sunderland did very well to get a point at Arsenal. They are not playing for anything and it will be an open game because Sunderland have nothing to lose.

“It should be a good game with a lot of goals.”

Watch Newcastle v West Ham live on Sky Sports 1 from 2pm; Hull City v Manchester United live on Sky Sports 3 from 2.55pm; and Chelsea v Sunderland live on Sky 1 and behind the red button on Sky Sports 1 from 2pm.

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