It’s Way to Early to Predict Anything - So Here’s Every Reason Why Hull Could Do a Leicester

Hull City's Early Season Form Has Got Us Thinking - Could They Be Leicester 2.0?

I know what you’re thinking: typical, yet another outlet predicting a team nailed on for relegation to go on and win the title. Blah blah blah, seen it all before. Where’s the next article?

Perhaps you’re right - perhaps we have simply jumped on a trope that, since Leicester won their astonishing 5000/1 Premier League title back in 2016, has become commonplace at various outlets, even boring and over-used at some. It's good for clicks, I'll tell you that much.

However, it would be classed as mass neglect if we weren't to talk about Hull City’s electric start to the season, one that sees them sit second in the table with seven points after three games, with the scalp of Man United already mounted on the wall of shame.

We’re not saying Hull City are genuine contenders for the title, but we do agree thatg their early season form has them finishing in another postcode from our pre-season predictions… and we’ve never been more happy to be right.

Transfer Market Moguls

Though it took a while for them to get going - they only had Ollie McBurnie as their sole starting striker at one point - Hull actually conducted a stellar transfer window, bringing in a refreshing mix of known talent, complete unknowns and promising prospects.

Two of their three best players so far this campaign can be classed in the complete unknowns category, with new goalkeeper from Olympiakos Konstantinos Tzolakis making nine saves and yet to concede a goal, and £21.3 million centre-back reinforcement Nobel Mendy already proving his worth with three clean sheets and seven points on the board.

Lucas Gourna-Douath, Elliot Stroud, and Hidesama Morita have all started games, while the likes of Sorba Thomas, Mohamed Ali-Cho and Brooke Norton-Cuffy have looked bright off the bench, with their best moments certainly yet to come.

Hull City full transfer window! 🔥

Enjoy the video I put together #HCAFC fans!

1️⃣ Jack Butland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
2️⃣ Óscar Zambrano 🇪🇨
3️⃣ Matt Targett 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
4️⃣ Hidemasa Morita 🇯🇵
5️⃣ Konstantinos Tzolakis 🇬🇷
6️⃣ Jens Hjertø-Dahl 🇳🇴
7️⃣ Elliot Stroud 🇸🇪
8️⃣ Nobel Mendy 🇸🇳
9️⃣ Lucas Herrington 🇦🇺
1️⃣0️⃣… pic.twitter.com/CZtoG9qcz8

— Kurt Johansson (@KurtJohansson_) September 1, 2026

However, it is not just about the player brought in, but the players that the club kept around - promotion from the Championship to the top flight is, as we know, a huge jump, and more often than not requires a complete squad overhaul.

For one, captain Lewie Coyle, who has been at the club since 2020, and played 235 times for the Tigers, remains the starting right back, his depth of experience and knowledge of what it means to represent Hull vital both on the pitch and in the dressing room.

John Egan and Semi Ajayi both bring Premier League know-how to the backline, Ryan Giles and Regan Slater bring fabulous energy to the midfield and left flank, and Ollie McBurnie looks like a completely different player to the version of him last seen in the Premier League - he may not have a goal yet, but he looks the business this year.

Onto Leicester, and they very much pulled the same approach - N’Golo Kante, Robert Huth, Shinji Okazaki and Christian Fuchs were all brought in as depth, but the Foxes managed to keep hold of Jaamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez, Wes Morgan and Kasper Schmeichel, decision that would prove integral to their history-making campaign.

Secretary(s) of Defence

Hull have caught the eye not just for their unbeaten start to the season, but the fact that they are the only side yet to concede a Premier League goal is testament to how well their defensive structure has be sculpted.

Playing five at the back, opponents have the extra defender to deal with when in possession of the ball, with the centre of the backline particularly hard to get through. Their only real consistent source of opportunities will come from the wide areas, with the wing-backs sometimes caught too high up to protect their fellow backliners.

Even when the defence is breached, they are met with the now menacing reputations of Tzolakis, who already has two save of the month nominations and three clean sheets in just a month at the club.

It’s a pretty intimidating sight at least right now - form breeds confidence, confidence breeds greatness, and this is a point once again illustrated by Leicester’s staggering campaign just over 10 years ago.

List of teams in the 92 that have NOT conceded a single goal this season⛔️:

Hull City

End of list. pic.twitter.com/aXGUADIa4J

— The 44 ⚽️ (@The_Forty_Four) September 6, 2026

Though they didn’t employ a back five, they ended the season with the second best defence in the division with just 36 goals conceded - for context, first place, which was a tie between Tottenham and Man United, conceded just one fewer.

The unlikely pairing of Wes Morgan and Robert Huth, with Danny Simpson and Fuchs out in the wide positions, proved to be a partnership for the ages, the two centre-backs leading by example with tough tackling and fearless defending in the middle, with the full backs contributed hugely in both defense and attack.

They kept 15 clean sheets along the way, which in the process saw them become the masters of the 1-0 win (seven across the season), and going off Hull’s early season showings, there is nothing to suggest that they can’t at least maintain a similar course, regardless of how their attack performs.

It is also worth noting that Leicester opened that campaign with seven points from their first three games. If I speak, I am in big trouble…

Tactical Tinkerers

Sergej Jakirovic, while not yet a household name, has a diverse managerial background with a coaching style moulded from spells in Turkey, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and his home country of Croatia. Add to that a full season in the Championship with Hull City, and you have a nicely balanced variety of different methods, set-ups and intricacies, some of which even Premier League managers won’t be entirely prepared for.

I’m not saying that the likes of Dinamo Zagreb, Kayserispor, Rijeka and Gorica are elite level quality sides, nor do they play in elite level leagues, but they provide a depth of unique experiences which suit the manager of a newly-promoted team looking to cause a few shocks.

He has certainly done that - in four competitive matches so far this season, including the penalty win over Stoke in the cup, Jakirovic has already used three different formations: 5-4-1, 4-1-4-1, and 3-4-3. The lack of certainty at how the Tigers will line up leaves side guessing until the hour before the game when lineups are announced - only then can they focus in on an actual gameplan to deal with it.

Hull City manager Sergey Jakirovic🗣️

“I came here to keep Hull in the Championship… I failed”

“WE GO TO PREMIER LEAGUE!”

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/9Y3Ck3zgp0

— The 44 ⚽️ (@The_Forty_Four) May 26, 2026

Jakirovic is also coming off the back of a dramatic campaign which saw Hull, somewhat shockingly, promoted thanks to a 1-0 play-off final, courtesy of McBurnie’s already iconic 90+5 winner. It means that the Croatian coach now has the taste for silverware, and while unlikely to come this season, he will certainly be doing everything in his power to add to the Tigers trophy cabinet.

Notoriously, Leicester were led by the “Tinkerman” Claudio Ranieri in their title-winning season, after the Italian had arrived in the dugout in the latter stages of the previous campaign, helping the sly Foxes to pull off one of the great escapes.

His nickname was already well known by this time thanks to his penchant for chopping and changing set-up between and even during matches, constantly keeping opponents on the backfoot through their inability to predict his next move.

Across the 2015/16 season, Ranieri mostly used the 4-4-2, but did semi-frequently introduce a 4-2-3-1 set-up against certain opponents, all the while maintaining that rigid backline of Simpson, Huth, Morgan and Fuchs, while also allowing for Vardy and Mahrez to float around and be generally unpredictable.

While Hull don’t yet have the attacking flair that Leicester showed in their historic title run, that will come the more confident they get, and confidence will come through continually picking up unlikely points and causing upsets.

Leicester’s title charge truly started with a 2-1 win over Chelsea in December, and with Hull taking on the Blues this weekend, it’s not a stretch to say that a genuine discussion around Hull challenging for at least a top four place could hang on the outcome of that game at Stamford Bridge.

We are not categorically saying that Hull are genuine title contenders - though they have been impressive, they are yet to prove themselves over a long period, and their opening three games could simply be considered an anomaly. After all, most people predicted them to come rock bottom of the league without a second thought.

But the possibility of another fairytale is too enticing to ignore entirely - though there are still 35 games to go, Hull have exhibited an awful lot of similarity to Ranieri’s fantastic foxes, and, title race or not, that can only bode well.