Just sixteen months after narrowly avoiding relegation to League One on goal difference, Hull City find themselves sitting third in the Premier League table, a position few could have predicted when the season's forecasts branded them as candidates to rival Derby County's unwanted record for the fewest points in a single top-flight campaign.
A 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge on Saturday night stretched Hull's unbeaten run to four matches, taking their tally to eight points. The Tigers have already stunned Manchester United and Coventry with victories, while securing creditable draws against both Aston Villa and Chelsea. With 34 games still to play, nobody expects Hull to be challenging Arsenal or Manchester City for the title come May, but their opening weeks have been nothing short of extraordinary.
The scale of the achievement becomes clearer when considering where Hull stood little more than a year ago. Their 2024-25 Championship survival came down to the final day, a 1-1 draw at Portsmouth combined with Luton's defeat to West Brom keeping them out of the relegation zone by the narrowest of margins. The club had scored just 44 goals in 46 league matches, and a transfer embargo—triggered by an unpaid £1m loan fee owed to Aston Villa for Louie Barry—prevented any squad rebuilding. Manager Rubén Sellés, appointed only five months earlier, was dismissed shortly after.
Under new boss Sergej Jakirovic, however, Hull turned things around remarkably quickly, finishing sixth in the Championship last season with 73 points despite scoring only 70 goals—a stark contrast to Coventry, who racked up 95 points and 97 goals. Statistically, Hull's underlying numbers suggested they should have finished closer to the bottom of the table, with the fourth-worst defensive record in the division. Yet they battled through the playoffs, ultimately sealing promotion at Wembley thanks to a stoppage-time winner from Oli McBurnie.
What has made Hull's Premier League adaptation so smooth is their refusal to abandon the identity that got them promoted. Rather than attempting to control matches with possession, they have leaned even further into a low-block, counterattacking approach. Their possession share has dropped from 45% in the Championship to just 29.4% in the top flight—the lowest in the league—but this represents an intensification of an existing approach rather than a wholesale reinvention.
Assistant manager Dean Holden explained the mentality following the win over Manchester United: "We are comfortable without the ball. It is not like we are coming up here having dominated the Championship and now we have to change."
Hull's attacking approach remains built around direct, vertical football, often launching long balls toward McBurnie before working the ball wide to wing-back Ryan Giles, who has already climbed to third in the league for crosses completed. Defensively, Jakirovic has stuck with the 5-4-1 shape that proved effective during Hull's playoff run, relying on a compact structure and physical duels to frustrate opponents. The Tigers rank sixth in the Premier League for both ground and aerial duel success, with midfielders Regan Slater and Matt Crooks screening in front of a resolute back line featuring John Egan and Semi Ajayi.
Perhaps most crucial to Hull's cohesion is the continuity of personnel. Despite roughly £150m in summer spending, eight players from last season's promotion-winning XI started against Chelsea. Reflecting on the adversity of the embargo-hit campaign, Jakirovic said: "Maybe it was the best that it happened like this. This group of players became even closer. They had to stick together and help each other."
Hull supporters remain wary of getting ahead of themselves, mindful that the club once sat third after nine Premier League matches back in 2008-09 before eventually surviving by just a single point. Still, for now, there is plenty to enjoy in Hull's unlikely rise to the top end of English football's elite division.
Based on reporting from The Guardian.