Chelsea return to Stamford Bridge on Saturday looking to respond to last weekend's defeat at ****** nal, but Hull City will offer a very different kind of test.
Xabi Alonso's side have scored eight goals in their opening three Premier League games and followed that with a 6-3 League Cup win over Leeds in midweek. Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and João Pedro have already become the main attacking reference points, while Chelsea have scored inside the opening five minutes in all three of their league matches.
Hull, though, have built their impressive start in almost the opposite way.
Sergej Jakirović's newly-promoted side have taken seven points from games against Manchester United, Coventry and Aston Villa without conceding a goal. They remain the only Premier League team yet to be breached this season.
The clean sheets do not mean Hull have dominated games. They had just 26.5% possession against Villa and have regularly been happy to defend in a compact 5-4-1, give the opposition the ball and wait for opportunities to counter. Goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis has already played more passes into the opposition half than any other Hull player, which says plenty about their willingness to go direct.

#games #villa #scored #opening

"Maybe expect to fight for a Champions League place?"
Sergej Jakirovic could not resist a joke when asked about Hull City's remarkable start to life back in the Premier League on BBC Match of the Day.
"No, of course it is early," the head coach was quick to follow up.
Three games into a season is indeed too small a sample size to predict a club's fortunes.
But with seven points from a possible nine, three clean sheets and only two points behind early pacesetters Manchester City, the Hull supporters can be forgiven for dreaming a little.

#jakirovic

Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
The Premier League have announced their nominees for the Manager of the Month and Player of the Month awards for August, with ****** nal receiving nominations in both categories.
Mikel Arteta has been nominated for Manager of the Month, having led ****** nal to two wins and a goal difference of +4 in the Gunners' opening two games of the new campaign.
No other manager can better that, but Enzo Maresca can match it with Manchester City. Though City have conceded twice more than ****** nal, they've also scored twice more.
It's not hard to guess the other two nominees, as they're the managers of the other two clubs to win two from two – Hull City's Sergej Jakirovic and Chelsea's Xabi Alonso. Voting is open here until Monday, September 7th at 12:00 BST.

#nominees

Hull City have agreed a deal with Eintracht Frankfurt to sign winger Jean-Matteo Bahoya.
The 21-year-old is understood to be open to the move and has been granted permission to undergo a medical in East Yorkshire before Tuesday's transfer deadline.
The France Under-21 international, who has previously been linked with several Premier League clubs, has seven goals and eight **** ists in 78 matches for Frankfurt since joining from French club Angers in 2024.
Primarily a left winger, he is capable of playing in multiple attacking positions and holds the Bundesliga speed record after being clocked at 23.09mph during a match against Bochum in 2025.
He could become the Tigers' 13th signing of the summer transfer window as the club continues to invest heavily in Sergej Jakirovic's squad.

#frankfurt #transfer #hull #bahoya

A first top-flight meeting between Coventry City and Hull City becomes the 1,454th different fixture to be played in England's top division and the 942nd since the Premier League was formed. BBC Sport takes a look at some of the key themes going into Saturday's match.
These newly promoted sides face each other having had contrasting fortunes from tough ****** ignments on their Premier League comebacks.
Having been roundly tipped to make an immediate return to the Championship, Hull City were in dreamland after confounding their critics as the Tigers tore into Manchester United.
The doom-laden pre-season predictions had irked everyone at the club, with head coach Sergej Jakirovic calling it "disrespect", so a 2-0 victory over the 13-time Premier League champions will have tasted particularly sweet.
"We are trying to prove people wrong," he said afterwards. "I know there are 37 games to go, but this is a good base for the future.

#championship #tigers

Hull City make the trip to the bet365 Stadium on Tuesday on the back of the biggest result of their season so far, a 2-0 win over Manchester United on their return to the Premier League.
Sergej Jakirovic's side have taken four wins from their last five matches across all competitions and arrive as considerable favourites, though the manager is expected to rotate heavily with a trip to Coventry City to follow at the weekend. Stoke City, by contrast, need a lift after back-to-back Championship defeats, a difficult start head coach Mark Robins has attributed to a squad still gelling following a busy summer of recruitment.
Stoke progressed to this stage with a comfortable 2-0 win over League Two side Oldham Athletic, while Hull enter the competition at the second round as one of the Premier League's non-European entrants. The sides' most recent meeting came on New Year's Day, when Stoke won 1-0 at Hull's MKM Stadium in the Championship. Robins will hope home advantage and a motivated group of fringe players can trouble a Hull side expected to field a much-changed XI.
Date: Tuesday, 25 August 2026Kick-off: 19:45 BSTVenue: bet365 StadiumLast meeting: Hull City 0-1 Stoke City, Championship, 1 January 2026
Aaron Cresswell, Lamine Cisse, Bosun Lawal, Junior Tchamadeu and Ato Ampah are all out through injury, and Svante Ingelsson is suspended following his red card against Southampton. Robins described his side as having "played really well" against Southampton before tiring in areas he "can't strengthen right now," pointing to squad depth as an ongoing issue. Robert Bozenik could be recalled up front, with Tomas Rigo in line to replace the suspended Ingelsson in midfield.

#stoke #robins #back #premier

Hull City boss Sergej Jakirovic kept his plan to topple Manchester United on their Premier League return under wraps for weeks, ******* istant head coach Dean Holden told Match of the Day.
The Tigers produced a sensational 2-0 win over Michael Carrick's side on Saturday, all while deploying a back five.
Jakirovic altered his tactics for the game, having watched a couple of United's pre-season matches, including the 4-2 defeat by AC Milan which was engineered by former boss Ruben Amorim, when he repeatedly switched play to his wing-backs which United's defence failed to cover.
When quizzed on the tactic, Holden told Match of Day: "We certainly didn't copy Ruben Amorim. Sergej [Jakirovic] had it in the back of his mind for three or four weeks that he wanted to play a back five.
"He didn't want to give anything away in pre-season, though, so we played a back four.

#jakirovic #back #boss

"We are trying to prove people wrong."
Hull City certainly managed to support their manager Sergej Jakirovic's desire as they shocked Manchester United - and many neutral observers - with a 2-0 win on their return to the Premier League.
The Tigers have been predicted by many to finish bottom, having only squeezed into the Premier League via last season's Championship play-offs.
After finishing third in the previous campaign, United were again being tipped to finish at least in the Champions League places.
But Jakirovic's side claimed a memorable first league win over United since a Second Division success in 1974 thanks to first-half goals from Semi Ajayi and fellow defender ****** el Mendy - one of 11 summer signings and with more to come.

#league #premier #first #manchester

Manchester United made a nightmare start to the new season as promoted Hull confounded their many doubters by securing a shock 2-0 victory on their Premier League return on Saturday.
Sergej Jakirovic's play-off winners were written off by nearly every pundit before a ball was kicked, with former England international Joe Cole saying an immediate Championship return is certain, causing anger among the home fans.
Such naysayers will have been rubbing their eyes in disbelief on Saturday lunchtime as the unfancied Tigers roared to a remarkable, and thoroughly deserved, opening weekend win courtesy of a pair of first half set pieces.
Semi Ajayi opened the scoring after United failed to deal with a corner and Michael Carrick's men were again found wanting when Regan Slater sent in a free-kick for debutant ***** el Mendy to nod home.
The Red Devils boss, handed the permanent job in May, warned of a challenging start in East Yorkshire but he could not have foreseen such a meek display from his side months after finishing third.

#saturday #start #hull #sergej

Manchester United conceded two goals from set pieces and were beaten 2-0 by newly promoted Hull City as the 2026-27 Premier League season kicked off on Saturday.
LIVE BLOG UPDATES — Hull 2-0 Man United
Semi Ajayi and ***** el Mendy scored the goals for Hull, who made their return to the top flight for the first time since 2017.
Not the start that Michael Carrick, now in charge on a permanent basis, wanted. The Red Devils were on the front foot and played some pretty possession football to start, but Hull's set-piece specialist Regan Slater had himself a day and set up both goals before halftime. First, it was a corner kick touched on and scrambled home by Ajayi, and then a brilliant free kick to the back post for Mendy redirect it home.
Hull City were virtually unanimously chosen to finish 20th this season, a decade on from their last stint in the PL, but Sergej Jakirovic's side looked anything but a newly promoted side overawed by the occasion. It was a true five-man backline for the Tigers but everyone does their part defensively. They have a few fantastic crossers in the team (from open play and dead ***** ), Oli McBurnie is still a tough-as-nails target man, and having three big center backs on the field at all times will make them a constant threat from set pieces.

#mendy

Ayden Heaven certainly did Manchester United no favours as Hull City took an unlikely lead on home turf against Michael Carrick's men.
But there's an argument to be made that the teenager was hardly helped out by his defensive partner in the first half, Harry Maguire, who failed to make much of an impact as far as the Tigers' incisive set pieces were concerned.
Two set-piece situations – a corner and a free-kick – and two goals for the hosts at the MKM Stadium. A lot for the Red Devils to do in the next 45.
If there's any sympathy to be had with United, it's that they are the first to come up against Sergej Jakirovic's men in the English top-flight.
But let's be honest, it's an extremely poor showing in comparison to what reigning Premier League champions ***** nal delivered against fellow newly promoted outfit Coventry City on Friday (albeit at the Emirates).

#ayden #maguire

Hull City return to the Premier League for the first time in nine years on Saturday, hosting Manchester United at the MKM Stadium in the opening fixture of the 2026-27 season.
Sergej Jakirović's side reached the top flight the long way round — sixth in the Championship, a play-off semi-final win over Millwall, then Oli McBurnie's stoppage-time winner against Middlesbrough at Wembley.
Manchester United arrive under Michael Carrick for his first full season in permanent charge, having finished third last season and secured a return to the Champions League. Hull have never beaten United in ten previous Premier League meetings, winning just three of 18 across all competitions.
Date: Saturday, 22 August 2026
Kick-off: 12:30 BST

#league #united

Former Swansea City forward Andy Robinson described Hull City's bid of approximately £10m for striker Zan Vipotnik as "pathetic".
The Swans rejected the Tigers' bid for the Slovenia international - who was the Championship's top scorer with 23 goals last term.
BBC Sport Wales pundit Robinson believes Vipotnik is worth at least double the sum offered by Sergej Jakirović's outfit.
"Hopefully we can keep Vipotnik because his goals, it's quite phenomenal. He scored 25 goals (in all competitions) last year," Robinson told BBC Radio Wales Sport.
"£10m for the player who finished as top scorer in the Championship is pathetic. It's absolutely pathetic to even start discussing that.

#sport #swansea

Hull City head coach Sergej Jakirovic says the club are "speaking with a lot of players" as they continue to prepare his squad for the start of the Premier League season, but their pursuit of Aston Villa winger Leon Bailey is "a mess".
The Tigers have already made seven permanent acquisitions so far this summer, but are expected to be busy in the last two weeks of the window.
"For me, it is a little bit difficult because the market is going too slow," Jakirovic told a special studio discussion with BBC Radio Humberside on Tuesday.
"Like every head coach I would like to have my team at the beginning of pre-season but it is not possible.
"I know it is difficult but we are working a lot and speaking with a lot of players. The players are a little bit crazy because agents, players, clubs want a lot of money but we are trying to find balance.

#jakirovic #head #speaking #season

Boss Sergej Jakirovic has cast doubt over whether Hull City will return with a second offer for Swansea City striker Zan Vipotnik.
News emerged on Monday that Hull, who won promotion to the Premier League last season, had seen a bid for Vipotnik rejected by Swansea.
The Slovenia international, 24, was the leading scorer in the Championship in 2025-26.
Vipotnik netted 25 Swansea goals last season – including 23 in the league – and scored three times for his country.
Jakirovic was asked during an appearance on BBC Radio Humberside on Tuesday whether Hull had made an offer for Vipotnik.

#hull #jakirovic #whether

SERGEJ JAKIROVIC

Acun Ilıcalı: "Nurettin Açıkalın (Kayserispor Başkanı) ile görüşeceğim. Kimsenin hocasını çalmadık. Tarz olarak öyle insanlar değiliz. Gayet güzel şekilde ilişkilerimizde belirli şeyler yapıyoruz. Sevgili başkanımız ile de görüşeceğiz. Bir teknik direktör