Chelsea play away to Hull City in the FA Cup fourth round after progressing with a 5-1 win over Charlton Athletic in Liam Rosenior’s first game in charge in January. Hull reached this round by overcoming Blackburn Rovers in a home tie. The match ended 0-0 with the Tigers successful in the penalty shootout.

Head-to-head

Chelsea have progressed from all eight of our FA Cup ties against Hull City. The only other team in the history of the competition to progress from as many ties against the same opponent are Leicester City, who have beaten Birmingham City eight times out of eight.

Chelsea’s last two matches against Hull were also in the FA Cup (2018 and 2020), both en route to the final. Our fifth-round tie in February 2018 ended in a 4-0 victory at the Bridge, courtesy of a brace from Willian and goals by Pedro and Olivier Giroud.

It was closer at what is now called the MKM Stadium in the fourth round in January 2020, when Michy Batshuayi and Fikayo Tomori gave us a 2-0 lead, before Kamil Grosicki pulled one back and made for a tense ending to our eventual 2-1 win.

The tie before that was a 6-1 win at Boothferry Park in December 1999, when the third round was played before the turn of the year. That victory – secured thanks to a Gustavo Poyet hat-trick and goals from Chris Sutton, Roberto Di Matteo and Dennis Wise – was also the start of a run to the final, as we became the last team to lift the trophy at the original Wembley Stadium.

Chelsea have won our past eight matches against Hull City in all competitions and are unbeaten in 16 games (14 wins, two draws) since the Tigers last beat us 3-0 at Boothferry Park, in the old Second Division in 1988. That is Hull’s only victory against us in 35 matches in over 100 years.

Head-to-Head (all competitions)

Played 48
Won 34
Drawn 10
Lost 4

Last five meetings at Hull

2 February 2010 | Premier League | D 1-1 Drogba
11 January 2014 | Premier League | W 2-0 Hazard, Torres
22 March 2015 | Premier League | W 3-2 Hazard, Diego Costa, Remy
1 October 2016 | Premier League | W 2-0 Willian, Diego Costa
25 January 2020 | FA Cup | W 2-1 Batshuayi, Tomori

Biggest win for each team:

Hull City 1-6 Chelsea | 1999/00 | FA Cup
Hull City 3-0 Chelsea | 1988/89 | Division Two

Chelsea stats

Chelsea have won the FA Cup eight times. Only Arsenal (14) and Manchester United (13) have won the trophy on more occasions. We last lifted the famous trophy back in 2018, with Antonio Conte's Blues defeating Manchester United 1-0 at Wembley courtesy of a penalty from Eden Hazard.

Rosenior is returning to a club he has represented both on the pitch and in the dugout, having played for the Tigers between 2010 and 2015 and managed them between 2022 and 2024. Rosenior was in the Hull starting line-up for the 2014 FA Cup final, in which they took a two-goal lead before eventually falling to a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Arsenal.

Chelsea have lost just three of our last 28 fourth-round ties, including last year when we lost 2-1 at Brighton & Hove Albion. The others in that time were Everton, on penalties in 2011, and Bradford City, in 2015.

The Blues have progressed from 62 of our past 64 FA Cup ties against sides from a lower division, including the last 23 in a row.

The last team from a lower division to beat the Blues in the FA Cup was Bradford City, in the fourth round in 2015 at Stamford Bridge. The Bantams were sixth in League One at the time and ended our run of 12 successive home victories, by winning 4-2.

In the third round against Charlton, we recorded a season-high 16 shots on target, while their goalkeeper Will Mannion made 11 saves, the most by any keeper against us this season.

Enzo Fernandez has five goal involvements in seven FA Cup games for Chelsea (three goals, two assists) and six in eight domestic cup matches against lower division teams (four goals, two assists).

Cole Palmer is now our equal fourth all-time highest penalty scorer in all competitions.

Top all-time penalty scorers
Frank Lampard 49, Jorginho 27, Eden Hazard 26, Peter Sillett 18, Dennis Wise 18, Cole Palmer 18, Tommy Law 16, Graham Roberts 16, John Hollins 15, Frank Leboeuf 15

Last six away FA Cup ties against Championship sides

2017/18 Norwich City (third round) D 0-0
2019/20 Hull City (fourth round) W 2-1
2020/21 Barnsley (fifth round) W 1-0
2021/22 Luton Town (fifth round) W 3-2
2021/22 Middlesbrough (quarter-finals) W 2-0
2025/26 Charlton Athletic (third round) W 5-1

Last five away FA Cup matches

19 March 2022 Middlesbrough (quarter-finals) W 2-0
8 January 2023 Manchester City (third round) L 4-0
7 February 2024 Aston Villa (fourth round replay) W 3-1
8 February 2025 Brighton & Hove Albion (fourth round) L 2-1
10 January 2026 Charlton Athletic (third round) W 5-1

There are no replays in the FA Cup this season from the first round and beyond. If the aggregate scores are level after 90 minutes there will be 30 minutes extra time and, if necessary, penalties.

Chelsea won our last penalty shootout, 4-2 against Newcastle United in the League Cup quarter-finals in December 2023, having lost the previous two, in 2022 in the League Cup and FA Cup finals.

Milestones

In the last round, Chelsea reached a milestone in the FA Cup, when Fernandez scored our 800th goal in the competition with his penalty against Charlton. Our 800 were scored by 237 different Chelsea players plus 14 own goals.

The next game Fernandez captains the side, it will be for the 50th time he has worn the armband from the start since he joined the club in 2023.

Hull City stats

Last season

Championship: 21st
FA Cup: Lost 2-1 away to Preston North End in the third round
Carabao Cup: Lost on penalties at home to Doncaster Rovers in the third round
EFL Trophy: Lost 2-1 at home to Sheffield Wednesday in the first round
Top scorer all competitions: Joao Pedro 6

Hull are currently fourth in the Championship, with 54 points from 31 games, seven points behind leaders Middlesbrough.

Their six-game unbeaten run in all competitions ended last weekend, when the Tigers lost at home to Bristol City. Up until then they had gained 13 points from a possible 15 in the Championship. On home soil in 2026, Hull have won two, including one after a penalty shootout, in five matches (one draw, two defeats).

The Tigers have reached the FA Cup fourth round for the first time in six years and hope to make the fifth round for the first time since 2017/18.

This will be Hull’s first match against a Premier League side since January 2023, when they lost 2-0 at home to Fulham in the FA Cup third round.

Hull have won one and lost one their penalty shootouts in the FA Cup and League Cup this season.

Last five results

Preston North End (a) W 3-0
Swansea City (h) W 2-1
Blackburn Rovers (a) W 1-0
Watford (h) D 0-0
Bristol City (h) L 3-2

Last Championship line-up

Hull City 2-3 Bristol City
Saturday 7 FebruaryTeam (3-4-1-2): Pandur; McNair (Collyer 76), Egan (Jacob 65), Hughes; Coyle (c), Slater, Lundstram (Dowell 65), Giles (Millar h-t); Gelhardt; Joseph (Koumas h-t), McBurnie
Scorers: McBurnie 24, Dowell 78

Discipline

There are no suspensions.

Yellow cards only count in the competition they are received. In the FA Cup, two bookings will result in a one-match suspension. All yellow cards accumulated in the earlier rounds are wiped clean after the quarter-final stage, meaning players cannot miss the semi-final or final due to yellow card accumulation.

Benoit Badiashile was the only Chelsea player yellow carded against Charlton.

Match officials

Referee: Farai Hallam
Assistants: Alistair Nelson, Andrew Dallison
Fourth official: John Busby

VAR is not in operation.

This will be Farai Hallam’s first referee appointment for a Chelsea game.