Arsenal have not lost to Hull City in 14 meetings, and a 15th game without defeat on Saturday would put the Gunners six points clear at the top of the Premier League, at least until Manchester City kick off.
Arsenal host the newly promoted Tigers at the Emirates Stadium at 3pm in gameweek 10. City don’t play Nottingham Forest until 5.30pm, so a win would leave Mikel Arteta’s side six points clear going into that game.
It is a fixture that doesn’t come round often. The clubs have met only 26 times in all competitions, and the history is heavily one-sided.
Arsenal vs Hull City head-to-head record
Arsenal have won 18 of those 26 games, drawn five and lost only three. It didn’t start that way. The first three meetings, between 1908 and 1913 when the club was still Woolwich Arsenal, brought two draws and a defeat, and there were only two wins in the first seven.
Since then it has been almost all one way: 16 wins from the last 19. The most famous of them came in the 2014 FA Cup final, when Arsene Wenger’s side were 2-0 down inside eight minutes, came back to win 3-2 and ended a nine-year wait for a trophy. Aaron Ramsey scored the extra-time winner.
When did Hull last beat Arsenal?
In 2008, and it still stings. Shortly after reaching the top flight for the first time, a Hull side inspired by Geovanni won 2-1 at the Emirates. Arsenal answered with seven straight wins against them, and the current winning run is three, including a Premier League double in 2016-17.
Who has scored the most goals in this fixture?
Alexis Sanchez, with eight. He was Hull’s nightmare in 2016-17, scoring twice in a 4-1 win away from home and twice more in the 2-0 home win in February 2017, the last time the clubs met. Nicklas Bendtner, Theo Walcott and Ramsey have three each.
| Last five Premier League meetings (newest first) | Result |
|---|---|
| 1 (February 2017) | Arsenal 2-0 Hull City |
| 2 (2016-17) | Hull City 1-4 Arsenal |
| 3 | Hull City 1-3 Arsenal |
| 4 | Arsenal 2-2 Hull City |
| 5 | Hull City 0-3 Arsenal |
Only two Arsenal sides have started better
Arsenal’s current form matters more than old FA Cup finals, and it is excellent. They have 24 points from nine games, with eight wins and one defeat, 14 goals scored and only five conceded.
They are on a four-match league winning run, which includes last weekend’s 1-0 win at Liverpool, and they are the only club with a 100% home record left in the division. Add Wednesday’s 2-1 win at Slavia Prague and it is three wins from the last four in all competitions.
Stalemate specialists
Sergej Jakirovic’s Hull started the season with three straight wins in all competitions, but they have drawn or lost all eight since. That run has only brought two Premier League defeats, at Newcastle United and Fulham, because they keep drawing: five in nine league games, a joint-high, and three of their last four.
The 2-2 against Ipswich Town last weekend kept them 11th on 11 points, and a win at the Emirates would lift them into the top 10. The numbers behind that are less kind. They haven’t kept a clean sheet in seven straight games and have lost three of their last four away from home, conceding six.
Team news for Saturday
Bukayo Saka (quad) and Max Dowman (suspended) are Arsenal’s only confirmed absentees, while Ezri Konsa is a doubt after coming off just past the hour in Prague. We went through the full picture in our Arsenal injury news before Hull, and our Arsenal predicted lineup vs Hull City has the XI we expect.
Hull are without the suspended Matt Crooks, plus Eliot Matazo, Matt Targett, Lucas Gourna-Douath, Ilyas Ansah, Darko Gyabi and Charlie Hughes, though Jack Butland could return. Oli McBurnie is one booking away from missing the visit of Brighton & Hove Albion on November 22. Our Hull City predicted lineup covers how Jakirovic might set up.
Will the Tigers frustrate Arsenal?
For a while, maybe. A side that draws this often will sit deep and try to make it ugly, and Arsenal have had a draining week with the trip to Prague. But Hull are leaking goals, struggling on the road and haven’t beaten the Gunners since 2008. We expect Arsenal to be patient, find the opening and go into the evening six points clear, leaving City to answer against Forest.
