With the Blues and Hull kicking off the weekend’s top-flight fixtures, club historian Rick Glanvill and club statistician Paul Dutton conclude their detailed preview of the match…
WE HAVE HISTORY
Few clubs have a longer association with Chelsea than Hull City. They were the first competitive visitors to Stamford Bridge on Monday 11 September 1905 – a 5-1 win for the Pensioners. Jimmy Windridge netted our first ever hat-trick and Davie Copeland added a brace. The Tigers led the return match at Anlaby Road 2-0 at half-time, extended to 4-0 before the Londoners – without Willie Foulke between the sticks – rallied to make it 4-3 at the end.
The Blues’ biggest win at Kingston-upon-Hull came as recently as October 2008 when high-flying Hull were managed by Phil Brown. It was third hosting second and Luiz Felipe Scolari’s men were ahead on superior goal difference alone.
Frank Lampard opened the scoring after just two minutes with a sublime left-footed chip that gave Boaz Myhill no chance and there were chances for either side up to half-time. Five minutes into the second period the alert Nicolas Anelka exploited mis-communication between Myhill and his centre-backs to nip in and make it 2-0.
Fifteen minutes before the end Florent Malouda taped in from close range from Ricardo Carvalho’s cross and it finished 3-0.
This weekend Chelsea are looking to extend our unbeaten record against Hull to 10 games in all competitions, since the Tigers last beat us 3-0 at Boothferry Park in October 1988 in the old Second Division. Michael Smith and a Keith Edwards brace secured the win in front of a 6,953 crowd. Our last eight meetings have seen seven wins and two draws.
| 1965/66 | Chelsea won 3-1 | FA Cup quarter-final replay |
| 1975/76 | Chelsea won 2-1 | Old Division 2 |
| 1976/77 | Drew 1-1 | Old Division 2 |
| 1981/82 | Chelsea won 2-0 | FA Cup 3rd round replay |
| 1988/89 | Hull won 3-0 | Old Division 2 |
| 1991/92 | Chelsea won 2-0 | FA Cup 3rd round |
| 1999/00 | Chelsea won 6-1 | FA Cup 3rd round |
| 2007/08 | Chelsea won 4-0 | League Cup 3rd round |
| 2008/09 | Chelsea won 3-0 | Premier League |
| 2009/10 | Drew 1-1 | Premier League |
The reverse fixture this season
18 August 2013 Barclays Premier League
Chelsea………..……2 Hull………..……….….0
Oscar 12
Lampard 24
Att: 41,374
Chelsea v Hull City in all competitions
Games played 41
Chelsea wins 27
Hull wins 4
Draws 10
Head to head in the League at Anlaby Road, Boothferry Park and KC Stadium
Games played 15
Chelsea wins 7
Hull wins 4
Draws 4
Biggest league win at Hull for each team
25/10/1988 – Hull 3-0 Chelsea
29/10/2008 – Hull 0-3 Chelsea
DAYS SINCE
Chelsea lost to Hull: 9,209
Hull were 92nd in the Football League: 5,573
Arsenal won a trophy: 3,157
Liverpool won the league: 8,652
TACTICAL BRIEF
Steve Bruce and Birmingham City were the first hosts of a Jose Mourinho Chelsea team in August 2004 and one of the last visitors to Stamford Bridge before the Portuguese departed in September 2007.
Bruce lost four of their six encounters back then (including those two) and drew the others. He admits to being a huge fan of Mourinho, who samples Kingston upon Hull for the first time this weekend.
Frank Lampard and Branislav Ivanovic remain unavailable for this trip, so Cesar Azpilicueta is likely to retain the more familiar right-back role in which he has excelled since switching from the left; Ashley Cole should continue on the other flank.
Who stands in for Lampard may depend on which formation the manager decides upon. Mikel’s fine showings in central midfield might suggest he will retain a central midfield role whatever. However this sort of opposition arguably requires extra incisiveness in the final third and that is not the strongest suit of the CAF African Footballer of the Year nominee, who shines against tougher opponents.
There will inevitably be changes from the side that won comfortably at Derby County in the FA Cup last weekend, with goalkeeper Petr Cech, aiming to surpass Peter Bonetti’s clean sheets record after Mark Schwarzer’s appearance at the iPro Stadium.
John Terry should return for the Blues after sitting out the FA Cup, while David Luiz has pushed his defensive midfield credentials again recently.
Juan Mata will vie for a start with Eden Hazard – a sub at Derby – Willian, Andre Schurrle and Oscar as Mourinho weighs up his options against Steve Bruce’s hard-working and physical team. The Tigers generally set themselves up in a 3-5-1-1, in which the three centre-backs can be susceptible to pace wide on the flanks.
Their wing-backs in that formation have included the mostly attack-minded Ahmed Elmohamady (pictured below) and Manuel Figueroa. However, they may revert to 4-5-1 (the raw but eager Yannick Sagbo as lone striker) with Liam Rosenior stepping in at right full-back. Rosenior scored an own-goal equaliser in our 2-2 draw with Fulham at Christmas 2006.
Chelsea’s opposition scouts will have identified the pivotal contribution made to Hull’s campaign by Tom Huddleston, who will dominate at the heart of their five-man midfield if permitted. The hefty ex-Spurs player is thriving on responsibility and belief he has not perhaps enjoyed in previous seasons.
Set-piece specialist and creative midfielder Robbie Brady is ruled out for the Tigers along with forward Sone Aluko (brother of Chelsea Ladies star Eni). Peripheral centre-back Paul McShane will miss up to a month with an ankle problem.
Fernando Torres, so far the only Pensioners striker to have scored on the road in the league, will hope for a return in attack. An early Blues goal could be crucial: the Tigers have lost eight of the nine games in which the opposition have opened the scoring.