Full Time
Chelsea were held to a 2-2 draw by Hull City at Stamford Bridge, with the newly promoted Tigers fighting back from behind to preserve their unbeaten start to the season. Morgan Rogers had Chelsea ahead inside seven minutes, but Mohamed Belloumi struck twice in a six-minute spell to turn the game on its head, before João Pedro pulled Chelsea level in the 66th minute. Belloumi's brace was the standout moment of the afternoon — a big result for a promoted side plenty had written off before a ball was kicked. Hull remain handily placed in the table's top half off the back of it, still unbeaten in the league, while Chelsea sit just behind them in mid-table with defending that will worry their supporters more than the result itself.
Pre-match Talking Points
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1Chelsea go into this one in fourth, still bruised after Arsenal handed Xabi Alonso his first defeat as Chelsea boss last weekend. Hull, of all clubs, sit one place and one point above them, unbeaten and playing like a side that's forgotten it was relegated from this division about a decade ago. Bragging rights are secondary here — Chelsea need a response, and Hull want proof their start isn't a fluke before anyone starts asking when the wheels come off.
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2History is heavily on Chelsea's side: they haven't lost to Hull in ten previous Premier League meetings, winning eight and drawing two. It's the kind of stat that should offer the Blues some comfort, except most of those games were played by a very different, much richer version of this fixture — this Hull side has spent the whole season ignoring what's supposed to happen to clubs like them.
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3Keep an eye on Cole Palmer. He's the one who took Chelsea's academy tracksuit and swagger and turned it into cold, ruthless finishing — he was the difference in the opening-day win over Fulham, and Alonso's whole attacking plan tends to run through him standing very still and then suddenly not being still at all. If Chelsea are going to break down a defence that hasn't conceded all season, it's probably going through him.
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4Xabi Alonso arrived with a reputation for control and instead got a chaotic week — first a 2-1 defeat to Arsenal, then a wild 6-3 Carabao Cup win over Leeds in which Chelsea somehow scored four goals in twelve second-half minutes. Add a growing injury list (Caicedo, Henderson, Palestra and Emegha all missing) and quiet noise about Enzo Fernández's future amid Manchester City interest, and there's plenty for Alonso to be tetchy about in his press conference.
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5Here's the genuinely mad stat of the week: Hull City are the only club in the top four divisions of English football yet to concede a single league goal this season. One more clean sheet here and they match Manchester City's feat from 2015-16 of shutting out opponents in each of their first four league games — something no promoted side has ever managed in the entire history of the top flight. Chelsea lead the league for goals scored, so something has to give, and that collision course alone is worth clearing your Saturday afternoon for.
Team Talking Points
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1Chelsea limped into the international break after a 1-0 defeat at Sunderland, settled by an Enzo Le Fée penalty in the first half. It dropped them to fifth, out of the Champions League places, and it was their fourth league defeat in ten games.
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2Xabi Alonso – appointed in the summer on a four-year deal to revive things – didn't sugar-coat it, saying Chelsea 'didn't deserve more than probably one point' and lacked patience and quality in the final third. The honesty is refreshing; the stats are less so.
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3Here's the worrying number: across games against Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester United and Sunderland, Chelsea scored just one goal from open play. For a squad that cost what this one did, that's a lot of very expensive passing sideways.
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4They've also been beaten 3-0 by Brentford this season, back in October. Chelsea fans would rather you didn't bring that one up, so maybe save it for when you want to change the subject quickly.
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5There's still plenty of time – they're only two points off the top four, six behind second-placed Brighton. And they're not shy about January: reports this week say Chelsea are among the clubs monitoring Arsenal's unhappy midfielder Martin Zubimendi.
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Top thing to say down the pub
One open-play goal in four games isn't what anyone had in mind when Xabi Alonso walked through the door – the break's come at a decent time for him.
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Avoid saying
"Just sack the manager" – it's Chelsea, so it's the reflex joke, but Alonso's only been in the job since the summer – ten games is not a fair trial. Say it and you'll sound like you think it's still 2012.
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1Hull lost 1-0 at league leaders Arsenal on Saturday. Martin Ødegaard pounced on a rebound in the 72nd minute after Hull's keeper parried a Noni Madueke shot. Losing narrowly at the Emirates is no disgrace for a promoted side, and Hull fans know it.
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2Manager Sergej Jakirovic was bullish afterwards. He reckoned Hull were the better team on performance and had enough chances to win, adding that the side is 'still growing'. Arsenal fans would disagree, but it's a nice sign that he's not playing for damage limitation.
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3The season started like a dream. Hull had seven points from their first three games and briefly sat second, behind only Manchester City. They haven't won a league game since August, though. It's a winless run of the sort that slowly turns a fairytale into a relegation conversation.
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4Jakirovic only arrived in the summer of 2025 and took Hull up through the Championship play-offs at the first attempt. That's a genuinely impressive bit of work, and Hull fans are still very much on his side. Credit him and you'll be on safe ground.
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5The last outing before Arsenal was a 2-2 draw with fellow promoted side Ipswich, where Hull let a lead slip. Jakirovic publicly demanded better 'control' when they're ahead. Throwing away winning positions is the recurring theme of their autumn.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Hull went to the Emirates and made Arsenal sweat. They just need to remember how to actually win one before the winless run starts to matter.
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Avoid saying
"Hull will be straight back down" — said with total confidence in August, it looked silly when they were second in the table, and fans have not forgotten who was saying it.