ENGLISH FA CUP BETTING PREVIEW - HULL CITY VS CHELSEA

English FA CUP

2026-02-13 - Hull City vs Chelsea

A Sports Betting Preview by Auls

Hull City v Chelsea
Football: English FA Cup Fourth Round
Friday 13th February 2025 - Kick Off 7:45pm
This game is live on TV

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Hull City

More than half of the nine seasons between 2008 and 2017 saw Hull City playing in the Premier League, but recent years have been much tougher for the club. The ownership has changed and Hull City actually slipped into the third tier of English Football, albeit for a one year stay, and this has been a club that have simply been looking to reestablish itself in the Championship.

That is not to say that the owners have low expectations and instead they have been targeting a return to the top flight, although it has been stated that they want Hull City to play in the right way to earn promotion. Sergej Jakirovic was appointed last summer after Hull City barely avoided relegation last season and to say he has been successful would be an understatement with The Tigers sitting in 4th place in the Championship.

Hull City had been unbeaten in 6 games in all competitions, although the 5 game winning run had been ended in the draw with Watford, while the overall unbeaten run was ended in a 2-3 home defeat to promotion rivals Bristol City last week. The home form has just been letting Hull City down in recent games and they have won 1 of the last 5 here in all competitions, while losing twice.

Even Championship clubs will think about rotating starting lineups for the early Rounds of the domestic Cups. The manager has had time to prepare his team and Hull City are not scheduled to be playing again until next weekend so there is more scope to put key players onto the field and chase the upset.

Chelsea

Blowing a two goal lead hurts, but then seeing Cole Palmer miss what looked an unmissable chance in the 2-2 draw with Leeds United will feel like two big points dropped for Chelsea in the race for Champions League Football. Liam Rosenior has overseen an exit in the League Cup Semi Final this month and he will be looking for a reaction from his players, even if he makes the expected changes to the starting eleven.

One route to silverware has been closed off by Arsenal, but Chelsea are still fighting in the Champions League and FA Cup, while being in touch with the top four in the Premier League standings. Fans have become used to challenging for the biggest prizes, but Rosenior is still getting his methods across to the players having been in charge a little over a month.

Chelsea's first game under the current manager saw them thump Charlton Athletic at The Valley in the FA Cup Third Round and they have won 7 of the 10 games played in all competitions since Liam Rosenior took over in the dugout. The Blues were beaten deep into injury time in the League Cup Semi Final Second Leg at Arsenal, but Chelsea have won 4 of the last 5 away games in all competitions and scored at least three goals in each victory.

You know there are going to be plenty of changes made to the starting eleven and this is something to keep an eye on up until kick off. Marc Cucurella picked up a knock on Tuesday and will not be risked, while the likes of Cole Palmer, Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Joao Pedro may not be asked to start. That offers opportunities for others, while Reece James could be available if he has overcome an illness.

Head to Head

The last time these clubs met was in the FA Cup Fourth Round in January 2020 and Chelsea were 1-2 winners at this ground.

That result also means Chelsea have won on each of the last 4 visits to Hull City.

Prediction

The FA Cup is not valued in the same way it once was, but it is a piece of silverware that fans will still want to see clubs target and just tell the Crystal Palace fans that the FA Cup is meaningless!

However, it would be foolish to think that managers are not going to be rotating starting elevens and that does make it a little tougher to know what to expect.

There is still a big gap in squad depth between clubs of the Premier League and those outside the top flight, and even more so when considering clubs like Chelsea who have spent billions on investment.

Liam Rosenior cannot really afford to see his authority challenged by overseeing an upset, but he will likely be relying on players like Alejandro Garnacho, Pedro Neto, Estevao and Liam Delap to get the job done. Others like Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro will be expected to travel, but they are expected to be broken out in case of emergency.

Chelsea have already shown their power against lower League opponents this season in Cup settings- they won well at Cardiff City in the League Cup and crushed Charlton Athletic of the Championship in the last Round of the FA Cup.

Of course Hull City have nothing to lose and this is a team that should be respected as they push for a long-awaited return to the Premier League.

The Tigers are 4th in the table and hosting under the lights could make them dangerous, but Hull City will also know they need to raise their levels from recent games. Teams like Bristol City, Watford, Swansea City and Stoke City have enjoyed plenty of opportunities in recent visits to Hull City and this is a team that wants to play with attacking intent.

That could really play into the Chelsea hands and the Premier League club should have enough quality around the pitch to earn a relatively comfortable victory. They may need a late goal to put a gloss on the scoreline, much as Chelsea did at The Valley in the last Round, but Chelsea can cover the Asian Handicap line set.

The Pick :

Hull City 1-3 Chelsea

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

I'll back Chelsea - 1.5 Asian Handicap at 1.84 with Cloudbet