Chelsea vs. Hull City, Premier League: Preview, team news, how to watch

The highest scoring team in the first three weeks take on the team with the fewest goals conceded thus far as Chelsea welcome Hull City to the Bridge for a Saturday afternoon Premier League encounter. Chelsea lead the league (jointly with Brighton) on eight goals scored. Hull City have yet to concede; an impressive achievement for the newly promoted side who conceded the fourth most goals in the Championship last season and barely squeaked into the promotion playoffs.

Traditionally, the third week is when the table first gets published, and this early success sees the Tigers sitting in third, behind only Manchester City and Arsenal and a point ahead of Chelsea in fourth. Two wins and a draw for Sergej Jakirović saw him rightly named Premier League Manager of the Month for August. Seven points in the bank already: Hull are set up for a solid first campaign back in the top division after a nine-year absence.

Advertisement

For Chelsea, the focus is on trying to find a bit of balance between a free-scoring attack and a freely-conceding defense. We may have scored eight, but we have also shipped seven, recording wins by the odd goal in five and the odd goals in seven before succumbing to the defending champions' inevitability last weekend. The balance was nowhere to be seen midweek when we beat Leeds United, 6-3, but as long as we keep winning, we have time to figure it out.

Date / Time: Saturday, September 12, 2026, 15.00 BST; 10am EDT; 7:30pm IST

Venue: Stamford Bridge, SW6

Referee: Farai Hallam (on pitch); Michael Oliver (VAR)

Forecast: Sunny and warm, with clouds moving in later in the day

On TV: none (UK); USA, Universo (USA); none (India); Canal+ Sport 5 (NGA); elsewhere

Streaming: none (UK); NBC Sports Live, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo (USA); JioHotstar (India); DStv Now (NGA)

Chelsea team news: Our quarter of "minor" injuries continue to be more and more not minor, with Moisés Caicedo, Marco Palestra, Jordan Henderson, and Emmanuel Emegha all still unavailable to play. At this point, having missed the first month of the season, they're all likely going to be out until after the international break, which is coming up next weekend.

Advertisement

The narrative from the club is that we're being very careful with all of them — especially after Caicedo's 14-minute comeback attempt the other week — and that they're all itching to play, so hopefully things don't drag for much longer at this point. Caicedo's absence especially has left a gaping hole in the team. Xabi Alonso has tried to cobble together a midfield from right backs and sellotape to try to fill that gap, but none of Roméo Lavia, Reece James, or Malo Gusto have impressed and Valentín Barco is only being trusted in Cup games so far.

Thankfully, we've managed to overcome most issues simply by outscoring the other team (except Arsenal), but that doesn't seem like a sustainable approach in the long term.

"This is the focus, this is the work, this is the process. We want to be more competitive, to be as good or even better in attack, because I think there is room for improvement. And to have the balance, to feel solid as well and to feel strong in defence. We want not to concede that many goals and that's the work of everyone, from the strikers to the goalkeeper."

-Xabi Alonso; source: Football.London

Hull City team news: Jakirović joked in his pre-match press conference that the only way to stop Chelsea's attack is to "kick them", but as the great poet Eminem once said, a lot of truth is said in jest. I suspect a similar message might get delivered to his players as well, with a nod and a wink and a smile.

Advertisement

Those players include a whole host of summer signings, with the Tigers practically assembling a brand new team. That's made handling a fairly long list of injuries easier, including longer-term absences for goalkeeper Jack Butland, defender Charlie Hughes, midfielders Darko Gyabi and Hidemasa Morita, and deadline-day striker signing Ilyas Ansah. Meanwhile Paddy McNair, Tim Iroegbunam, and Brooke Norton-Cuffy were all declared fit after midweek injury concerns.

Click here to read article