Chelsea's Attack Shines Despite Hull City Draw
Chelsea’s front line did their bit. Stamford Bridge still walked away shaking its head.
While Fulham were bloodying Liverpool’s nose across the capital, Hull City were ripping up another coupon in west London. The Tigers’ unbeaten start to the 2026/27 season rolled on with a fully merited point against free-scoring Chelsea, and it didn’t feel like a smash-and-grab either.
This was Chelsea’s attack versus Hull’s courage. The scoreboard said 2-2. The story was messier.
‘JP Morgan’ keep delivering
For Fantasy managers, Chelsea are a strangely simple puzzle right now. There’s no agonising over which defender to squeeze in, no late-night tinkering with full-backs. It’s the front three or nothing.
Morgan Rogers (£7.7m), Cole Palmer (£9.7m) and Joao Pedro (£7.8m) all returned again, even if this wasn’t the Hull demolition job many had forecast, especially those who slapped the armband – or Triple Captain chip – on Palmer.
Chelsea started as if they might run riot. Pedro slipped a neat ball into Rogers, who thumped in the opener with the kind of conviction that makes his price tag look generous. Later, with Chelsea wobbling and the crowd restless, Palmer slid a low cross into the box for Pedro to tuck away a second-half equaliser that spared serious blushes.
Eight points for Rogers. Five for Palmer. Twelve for Pedro. Respectable hauls from a game that never quite exploded for them.
Strip the goals back and the numbers tell a quieter tale. Pedro’s goal and assist came from his only shot and only key pass of the match. Rogers, aside from his strike and a late chance fashioned by Palmer, didn’t see a flood of opportunities. The trio remain lethal, but they’re not feasting on chance after chance every week.
Even so, between them they’ve now racked up 14 attacking returns in four Gameweeks. The problem at Chelsea lies elsewhere.
Alonso’s headache at the back
Xabi Alonso knows exactly where the rot sits.
“Overall, I think that we are attacking better than defending, in every part,” he said afterwards. “We know that it’s a big topic and a big theme for us… the dynamic in terms of conceding, I don’t like it, and we need to do much better. Open play, set-pieces, long balls, this toughness, this competitive sense; we can do better.”
Hull didn’t just hang on and nick something. They out-created Chelsea on expected goals, and did so comfortably – the first time they’ve managed that against any Premier League opponent this season.
Chelsea, by contrast, looked like a side still being shuffled in a pre-season friendly. Alonso went with a 4-2-3-1, a shape he’d tested in the summer, and his team never quite settled. Hull carved out four big chances to Chelsea’s two. That’s not a blip; that’s structural.
The back line keeps changing and the uncertainty shows. Maxence Lacroix (£6.0m) was dropped to the bench. Jorell Hato (£4.5m) is the only defender to have started all four league games, and even he didn’t survive this one. Hooked at half-time after a torrid 45 minutes, he became the latest symbol of a back four still searching for cohesion.
The numbers across the opening four Gameweeks paint the same picture: Chelsea are conceding too many big chances, from too many situations, for a side with top-four ambitions.
If you own Kevin Schade (£6.0m) or Igor Thiago (£7.9m) ahead of Gameweek 5, you won’t lose sleep about starting them against this defence.
Hull refuse to play the underdog
This was not quite London 0-4 Hull, but it wasn’t far off in terms of mood for the travelling fans. The newly promoted side were meant to be cannon fodder this year. They look anything but.
Yes, there’s the familiar question: is this just the early-season surge of a promoted team riding adrenaline and freedom? Will they eventually slide back towards the pack? Probably. But the gap between expectation and reality is already huge.
They also have a serious operator in the dugout. Sergej Jakirovic has quickly become one of the league’s more intriguing voices – sharp on tactics, sharper still with his dry humour – and his team reflect that clarity.
Hull had already shown they can dig in and survive. At Stamford Bridge, they showed they can swing back.
For half an hour they barely had a kick. Then Mohamed Belloumi (£5.0m) changed the tone with one savage swing of his right boot, crashing in a half-volley that rattled Chelsea’s composure and lit up the away end. Confidence surged.
Belloumi started to run the game from the flank. He slid in Lewis Coyle (£4.0m) for a blocked effort, then grabbed his second of the afternoon via a deflection, rewarded for his ambition rather than luck alone.
The chances kept coming. Oli McBurnie (£5.5m) should have made it 3-1, denied by a big save when clean through. Substitute Mohamed Ali-Cho (£5.0m) also saw a huge opportunity thwarted. Hull’s xG map told the story: sizeable chances, in dangerous areas, against a top-six club on their own patch.
Newcastle United await next weekend. On this evidence, they’ll know they’re in a game.
Mendy blow tempers the mood
The only real cloud for Hull came with Nobel Mendy (£4.1m). The centre-back came off worse in a clash of heads with Joao Pedro and had to be withdrawn on 58 minutes, another outing cut short after failing to reach the 70-minute mark all season.
“Yeah, not good. I think we are thinking it’s a concussion,” Jakirovic said. “He went to the hospital and after head scan, we will know more, but it’s concussion 100%.
Mendy will be out, 100%, so we need to find a new player.
Lucas Herrington (£4.0m) is the next man up and has impressed already. Jakirovic expects him to step in without fuss.
There were more defensive contributions too. Semi Ajayi (£4.2m) crashed a header against the bar. John Egan (£4.1m) delivered again for those hunting value in the bargain bin.
Hull walk into Tyneside unbeaten, fearless and now battle-tested. Chelsea, for all their glitter up front, head into the next week with a different question: how long can a team this open at the back keep pretending it’s just a phase?
