Hull City v Chelsea: FA Cup fourth round prediction, odds and free tip

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Hull City v Chelsea in the FA Cup fourth round at the KCom Stadium.

Where to watch

BT Sport 1, 5.30pm Saturday

Best bet

Chelsea-Chelsea double result
1pt 13-10 Coral

Team news

Hull City
Jordy de Wijs and Kamil Grosicki (both calf) are expected to shake off minor injuries but Stephen Kingsley, Jon Toral, Kevin Stewart and Angus MacDonald are sidelined.

Chelsea
Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Achilles) and Christian Pulisic (thigh) are ruled out and Tammy Abraham (ankle) is a major doubt. Reece James (knee) will be assessed.

Match preview

Chelsea are going through a rocky spell in the Premier League but they are among the favourites to win the FA Cup and can maintain their challenge by winning at Hull.

The Blues felt hard done by after last Saturday's 1-0 loss at Newcastle and Tuesday's 2-2 draw at home to Arsenal.

They were largely dominant in both games – winning the shot count 19 to seven against Newcastle and 19 to two against Arsenal – but collected only one point, leaving them more vulnerable than they should be in the battle for a top-four finish.

February looks a key month for Frank Lampard's side, who face league matches away to Leicester and at home to Manchester United and Tottenham before resuming their Champions League challenge with a last-16 first-leg clash at home to Bayern Munich.

But the FA Cup offers the Londoners their best hope of landing a trophy.

The Blues boss may make a few changes, including an enforced switch up front after Tammy Abraham sustained an ankle knock on Tuesday when colliding with the advertising hoardings.

But it will still be a team packed with internationals and they should be too strong for the Tigers, who are mid-table in the Sky Bet Championship.

Hull have not completely given up on making a late push towards the playoffs but it looks a remote possibility after back-to-back 1-0 defeats at home to Fulham and away to Derby which have left them seven points adrift of the top six.

Speculation continues to rage over the future of star player Jarrod Bowen, who is out of contract in the summer of 2021.

And Hull have planned for the possibility of Bowen's earlier departure by signing attacking midfielder Martin Samuelsen from West Ham and loaning winger Mallik Wilks from Barnsley.

Bowen is having another outstanding season, contributing 16 league goals and five assists. He has been involved in 21 of Hull's 40 league goals but may have been slightly unsettled by all the transfer talk and has netted just once in his last seven appearances.

If Bowen fails to sparkle, it is hard to see where the Hull threat is going to come from.

Hull centre-forward Josh Magennis has not scored since November and Polish winger Kamil Grosicki, capable of moments of magic, has gone off the boil.

Chelsea are likely to dominate, as they did against Newcastle and Arsenal, and this time the result should go their way.

They triumphed 2-0 at home to second-tier Nottingham Forest in the third round, forging two goals ahead in 22 minutes, and should be just as comfortable this weekend.