The supporters who travelled to St. James' Park three weeks ago, and to Stamford Bridge the week before, have now absorbed five away fixtures in Hull City's opening run — and the results, taken together, ask something of them that league tables do not capture. A point from the 2-2 away draw with Chelsea sits alongside the 1-2 away loss to Newcastle United and the 0-1 Carabao Cup defeat to Sunderland; across those three games, Hull conceded five and scored three. Sergej Jakirović's side hold eight points from five Premier League matches, which keeps them in the picture, but per Hull Live, Brooke Norton-Cuffy's injury has already been confirmed as a blow, and the same outlet has reported on both Kieran Dowell and Óscar Zambrano's squad status — Dowell having contributed a goal this season, which makes that uncertainty matter. Everton arrive at The MKM Stadium on Sunday 11 October unbeaten in five, on nine points, with a goal difference of plus three. The identity of this Hull side — resilient enough to draw at Stamford Bridge, thin enough to feel every absence — faces its first home examination that will tell supporters whether trust in this project is being earned or merely deferred.
Three away fixtures inside eleven days exposed something structural about Hull City's current squad — and the 1-2 away loss to Newcastle United at St. James' Park, which this paper opened on yesterday, now sits at the far end of a run that produced no wins, three goals scored, and five conceded. That is the congestion window closed. What it leaves behind is a roster question Sergej Jakirović cannot defer: per Hull Live, Brooke Norton-Cuffy's injury has been confirmed, Jack Butland and Darko Gyabi are carrying fitness concerns, and Hull Live also reports that the statuses of Kieran Dowell and Óscar Zambrano — Dowell has contributed one goal so far across Premier League and Carabao Cup — have been addressed by Jakirović alongside a loan suggestion, which indicates the squad shape is still being settled rather than deployed. Mohamed Belloumi's two goals and two assists across those same competitions make him the clearest attacking decision the manager has, but the depth around him narrows when absences compound. Everton arrive at The MKM Stadium on Sunday 11 October unbeaten through five matches, and how many of those roles Jakirović can fill is the condition that opening at home will test.
Hull City's injury list has grown long enough to become a roster problem rather than a bad-luck stretch, and the 1-2 away loss to Newcastle United has arrived at precisely the moment the squad needs depth it may not have. Per hulldailymail.co.uk, Jack Butland and Darko Gyabi are carrying injury concerns, Brooke Norton-Cuffy has been confirmed out, and the overall picture as of late September points toward a depleted group heading into an international break. The structural consequence is this: a side already averaging 31.6% possession in the Premier League — the lowest in this paper's recent coverage, and a deliberate shape rather than an accident — cannot absorb absences across the wide areas and midfield without that shape becoming a liability. Mohamed Belloumi leads the scoring returns with two goals and two assists across the Premier League and Carabao Cup this season, which makes his availability the single most consequential selection question Sergej Jakirović faces before Sunday 11 October, when Everton arrive at The MKM Stadium unbeaten in five league games and sitting one point above Hull in the table.
Hull City's 31.6% average Premier League possession this season is not an accident of personnel — it is a structural decision, and the 1-2 away loss to Newcastle United at St. James' Park is the sharpest test yet of whether that decision holds under pressure. Sergej Jakirović has built a side designed to cede the ball and work in transition, and across five Premier League matches that shape has produced a goals-scored average of 1.20 per game against a conceded average of 0.80 — numbers that read, on balance, as a functional trade-off rather than a failing. The complication is at the edges: per Hull Live, Jack Butland and Darko Gyabi are both carrying injuries, and Yahoo reports that Brooke Norton-Cuffy's availability has been confirmed as a blow, which means the specific roles that make a low-possession structure viable — defensive cover wide, ball-retention in midfield — are under strain precisely when the squad faces Sunday's home fixture against Everton. Mohamed Belloumi's two Premier League and Carabao Cup goals and two assists make him the one player whose individual output consistently justifies the shape from the front; whether the structure around him is intact enough to function at the MKM Stadium is the thing Sunday settles.
Hull City sit 8th in the league with 8 points from 5 games — a 2W 2D 1L record that puts them on a 40% win rate. A +2 goal difference is functional — neither a strength nor a concern.
A defeat in the last outing will have sharpened focus in training.
The next fixture comes at home against Everton in the 2026 27 English Premier League. On current form, maintaining a clean sheet will be central to the game plan — the defensive metrics across the season show that results largely follow the defensive performance rather than individual attacking brilliance.
Stats Deep Dive: 1.2 goals scored per game | 0.8 conceded per game | 2W 2D 1L from 5 games. Currently 7 points off top spot with 25 games remaining. Win rate: 40% | Points per game: 1.6.
Hull City sit eighth in the Premier League on eight points from five games — a respectable return built almost entirely on the season's opening stretch. The verified three-game window tells a tighter story: one win, two draws and one loss in those early fixtures have given way to a run of zero wins, two draws and one loss across the most recent three, with three goals scored and four conceded in that span. Mohamed Belloumi leads the attacking return with two goals and two assists across the Premier League and Carabao Cup, but the concentration of output in one player is a structural note worth watching. That concern is compounded, per Hull Live, by a mounting injury list — Nobel Mendy, Charlie Hughes, Matt Targett and Hidemasa Morita were all flagged for updates in mid-September, and Brooke Norton-Cuffy was subsequently confirmed unavailable. Hull's possession figure of 31.6% across the season so far is the plainest description of how Sergej Jakirović's side has operated: low block, limited ball, survival on transitions. Sunday's home fixture against Everton — unbeaten in five, with nine points and a goal difference of plus three — will show whether that approach holds against a side that has kept the ball meaningfully more and conceded only three times all season.