⚽ EFL Cup · Round 2
There’s a real subplot buried in this one, and it’s the kind of thing I live for. Hull City host reigning Premier League champions Arsenal in EFL Cup Round 2, a straight knockout tie with no second leg to lean on — and a rematch, in spirit, of a final these two clubs contested over a decade ago. Sergej Jakirović’s promoted Tigers get a huge home night against Mikel Arteta’s side, and whatever happens, this is genuine cup football rather than a manufactured angle. Part of our full EFL Cup Round 2 coverage.
Team Analysis
Hull City
Jakirović has already thrown his side into the deep end with a Matchweek 1 date against Manchester United, and now gets a home cup night against the champions. Club-record goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis, along with the added know-how of midfielders Hidemasa Morita and Oscar Zambrano, give Hull more top-flight-ready pieces than most newly promoted sides, and a full MKM Stadium is exactly the stage this squad has been building towards.
Arsenal
Arteta’s title-winning squad travels to Humberside still without centre-backs William Saliba and Jurrien Timber, an absence that matters more in a one-off knockout format where a single defensive mistake can end the run outright. New arrivals Christos Tzolis and Illan Meslier, plus Piero Hincapié’s move being made permanent, give Arteta options, but a patched-up back line in a hostile away atmosphere is exactly the sort of scenario cup upsets are made of.
Cup Pedigree Watch
- These two have shared a cup final before. Hull’s high point in this competition’s cousin, the FA Cup, came in 2014, when they reached the final and led Arsenal 2-0 inside eight minutes at Wembley before Arsenal fought back to win in extra time. It remains the single biggest domestic cup occasion in Hull’s history, and Arsenal are the club on the other side of it.
- Arsenal’s FA Cup weight is essentially unmatched in English football. A record 14 FA Cup titles, with recent-era wins in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2020 and 2025, make this a club whose cup DNA runs far deeper than a single-competition résumé — even setting aside a leaner League Cup history by comparison.
- Hull’s 2014 heartbreak is exactly the kind of memory a home crowd weaponizes. There’s genuine motivation on Humberside to finally get one over on the club that denied them their biggest domestic cup moment, even in a different competition more than a decade later.
Our Prediction
Arsenal’s overall squad quality should still be considerable even missing two first-choice centre-backs, but the combination of a raucous home atmosphere, a promoted side with genuine incentive, and a title-winning defence still working around key absences makes this more competitive than the gulf in status suggests. I expect Hull to give the champions a real test and find the net, but not quite enough to complete the upset this time.
Connor’s Pick: Arsenal to win
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