Hull City vs Chelsea: FA Cup preview, team news, kick-off time & how to watch

A switch of focus to the FA Cup.
IMAGO / Pro Sports Images

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Chelsea face Hull City in the FA Cup fourth round on Friday night at the MKM Stadium.

Head coach Liam Rosenior, as well as forward Liam Delap, return to their former club as they look to progress into the fifth round.

It's set to be a special evening for Rosenior, who comes up against an in-form Hull side who are currently fourth in the Championship.

"Firstly, for me, Hull City is very special to me," previewed Rosenior. "My grandma was a season ticket holder. She passed away a year to the day pretty much when I took that job. I think she did the draw.

He added: "I've got my family coming up. I probably need about 20 tickets. The club means a lot to me for many reasons. Hopefully we can put on a really, really good show. It will be amazing to go back."

Charlton vs Chelsea, FA Cup third round, January 2026
Chelsea booked their FA Cup fourth round spot after knocking out Charlton Athletic last month. | IMAGO / Every Second Media

Rosenior is not taking the Tigers lightly and is preparing to name a strong side, which will feature Mamadou Sarr, who returned from his loan spell at RC Strasbourg earlier this month.

"This is going to be a difficult game," said the Chelsea head coach. "I want to do well in this competition. I don't see it any different to a Premier League game or a Champions League game.

"We're going there with a team that I think will be good enough to win the game. I want to take this game really, really seriously. We're going to have to because they're in good form. They're used to winning games at the moment."

Liam Rosenior, Chelsea
As a former player and manager, Rosenior has fond memories of Chelsea's opponents on Friday. | IMAGO / IPS

Chelsea will be hoping to have Reece James available after his injury and illness absence. Marc Cucurella has been ruled out after picking up a hamstring problem against Leeds United.

Hull are heavy underdogs and will go into Friday's tie with nothing to lose. They have won one of their last 35 games against Chelsea in all competitions (D8 L26), a 3-0 win in October 1988 under Eddie Gray.

Here are all of the details ahead of the FA Cup tie between Hull City and Chelsea.


Date, time, location of Hull City vs Chelsea

Date: Friday 13th February 2026

Kick-off time: 7.45pm UK / 2.45pm ET / 11.45am PT

Stadium: MKM Stadium

Competition: FA Cup fourth round

MKM Stadium, Hull City
IMAGO / Pro Sports Images

How to watch Hull City vs Chelsea

United Kingdom: BBC One, TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports Ultimate

United States: ESPN2, ESPN Select, fuboTV, ESPN App

Prediction

Hull City 1-5 Chelsea


Published
Matt Debono
MATT DEBONO

Matt Debono leads the editorial team which covers Chelsea On SI. He has witnessed Chelsea win it all, whilst also featuring on ITV News, SPORTbible and various other publications.