Chelsea v Hull Tip

There is a script that everybody is very familiar with and anticipating seeing played out at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. That is that Chelsea will win handsomely at home to newly promoted opposition on the day Jose Mourinho returns to the dugout. How could it be any other way?

Well, I’m not going to suggest the Blues won’t win, but there is a case for saying it may not be the goal-fest that so many are expecting. Hull built their Championship success on a bedrock of defensive security; they conceded one goal or less in 32 of their 46 league games in 2012-13 and two goals or less in 40 of their 46 outings - that’s 87% of the time.

The problem Steve Bruce’s team had was that they didn’t score enough. They only fired the 14th most goals in the lower division (61) and finding the net won’t suddenly become easier in the top flight.

Strategically, this looks like a classic ‘park the bus’ fixture for the new boys. Bruce would probably take a 1-0 or 2-0 defeat if he was being honest and Mourinho built his reputation at Chelsea on grinding out wins without caring if the margin of victory was huge.

Therefore, at best odds of 8/5 (BetVictor) there seems to be some value in going under 2.5 goals in the match.