LIVE BLOG

FULL TIME: Chelsea win!

90+4min: Corner cleared.

90+3min: A couple more defensive headers, and that’s that.

90+1min: Hull chip in the free kick, Chelsea defend it well enough. Lamptey on for Pedro in Chelsea’s final change.

90min: Zouma booked for dissent after he’s called for a foul that he disagrees with rather vehemently. 3 minutes added on.

89min: More poor play from Barkley leads to another Grosicki counter, but Zouma is again strong to stick to his task and keep the Hull goalscorer well marshaled.

88min: Corner for Hull as Kova blocks a cross. Chelsea clear at the second time of asking after Hull win the first header, again.

86min: A poor touch from Barkley gifts Hull a 2-v-2, but Grosicki settles for a long range effort instead of taking on Zouma. Wide.

85min: Alonso unlucky to see his shot deflect over, winning Chelsea a corner. Willian takes it, but Zouma mistimes his header and the danger’s gone.

83min: Gilmour with a nice shot, Long with a nice save.

82min: Tomori with a crucial header as Grosicki puts it into the mixer, then Gilmour does well to run the ball out of the defensive third.

81min: Pedro finds Willian on the left, but his ball through for Alonso is too strong.

78min: Goal. Hull. Alonso misses his kick just outside the box and Magennis takes a dive, which is bought by the referee. Bowen takes aim as Caballero yells at his wall, but it’s Grosicki who takes it and it’s straight into the wall, but it’s a terrible wall and the powerful shot is deflected through it and into the back of the net. Nothing the goalkeeper could do about that! Lead now just 2-1.

75min: Zouma with a good header out as Hull push men forward in search of a goal.

74min: Good play from Bats and Barkley leads to Pedro chipping one over the goalkeeper ... but it nestles into the side-netting instead of the back.

73min: Chelsea win a corner through Barkley on the right. Pedro goes for the outswinger and Hull make a royal mess of the clearance, giving Tomori two bites at the loose ball. Blocked, both times.

72min: Batshuayi with a hopeful 20-yard effort with his left, cutting in from the right. Well wide.

70min: Willian with an almost immediate impact, stepping inside from the left before reversing a ball for Pedro. He works a yard of space from his defender and shoot, just missing the far post.

68min: Double change from Chelsea, with Willian and Gilmour on and CHO and Mount off. Hull respond with a double change of their own, Magennis and Samuelsen on, Eaves and Honeyman off.

66min: Hull with a bit of space to attack, but Azpi makes a good block.

64min: GOALLLL BIG FIKKKKK! Barkley takes the free kick, finding Tomori at the far post, who heads down and past the goalkeeper. 2-0, CHELSEA!!!

63min: Chelsea finally get a foothold on the ball, with Zouma breaking the lines with a great pass for Mount in the right channel. But he’s hacked down by Lichaj from behind, who earns the yellow.

59min: Alonso is beaten in the center circle by the man he’s been marking all game, Bowen, who runs straight at goal and takes a shot from the top of the box, which flies just over. Grosicki on for Wilks in its wake.

56min: Zouma hacks one clear for Batshuayi to chase, but while he gets around the defender, the goalkeeper’s out to collect. It’s all Hull at the moment.

55min: Another Hull corner, this time from the left is easily defended by Kovačić at the near post.

54min: Back-to-back corners from Hull are cleared by Batshuayi, then by Zouma.

53min: Great touch from Bowen on the right leads to McKenzie beating Pedro and Alonso for a chance to cross but Azpilicueta heads clear at the far post.

51min: Chelsea with room to counter, but Pedro runs into a defender and loses the ball.

50min: Hudson-Odoi sees a cross blocked and Hull counter on the right. Bowen beats Alonso to the byline and tries a cutback, which is blocked for a corner by Tomori. Kane’s corner finds a Hull head but Chelsea win the second ball ... but then fail to clear, first through Pedro, then through Zouma. But Hull can’t make it count and Kovačić eventually wins a foult to relieve the pressure.

47min: Hull’s free kick is at least 25 yards out, Kane lines it up, goes for goal, doesn’t trouble Caballero who watches it fly safely wide.

46min: No changes for either side as Chelsea restart proceedings. An early giveaway leads to Kovačić sliding in from behind, missing the ball, and earning a well-deserved yellow.

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HALF-TIME: Chelsea absolutely dominant, but lead only 1-0.

45+1min: Good interplay from Pedro and Alonso leads to a cross from the latter. Azpi chests it down and past his marker, but the goalkeeper is equal to the effort, his third great save of the half. Mount finds a bit of space from the follow-up corner, but a desperate lunge from a defender blocks the shot, and there’s no time left to take the corner.

44min: Free kick in the same position for Hull, this time from a CHO foul, but Chelsea defend it much better than last time.

42min: Zouma gives away a foul 35 yards out, central. Kane chips it in, Hull win the first header but not the second. They collect the clearance and pump it back in. Eaves collects, turns, and shoots, but a deflection takes the power out of it, and Caballero collects.

41min: Barkley loses the ball in midfield, but Tomori is alert to the danger to cover well. Batshuayi’s then called offside when he wasn’t.

39min: Great pass from Azpi down the line finds Barkley making the outside-in run, but his cutback from the byline is blocked by the goalkeeper who’s down quickly in front of an arriving Batshuayi.

37min: Pedro loses the ball, then gives away a foul in midfield. Hull with a bit of forward momentum at the moment.

35min: Chelsea lose out in midfield and Kovačić seems to have hurt himself in a 50-50. Hull eventually find Bowen with a cross from the left, but his turn on the shot is weak and Caballero easily collects. Kova looks able to run off his dead leg.

33min: The next pass from Mateo is perfect and finds Mount, who’s in behind the defenders, but his touch is a tad bit too long and the goalkeeper’s quickly off his line to make another great save. Chelsea recycle possession to the other side, and CHO waltzes past Lichaj. But Chelsea then overplay the chance with Pedro and Alonso and Hull can clear. Someone just take a shot!

32min: Kovačić gets a pass wrong and the apocalypse may be nigh.

30min: Hull with a chance to break, find Wilks wide left, but Azpi defends perfectly 1-v-1.

29min: Azpi with a good underlap of CHO, is found by the winger, but the cross doesn’t reach Batshuayi.

28min: Michy wins the ball high up and plays in Pedro. He has no room to cross so pulls it back to Mount who drops a shoulder and puts in a perfect ball across the 6-yard box. No one’s there to tap it in unfortunately.

27min: Corner to Chelsea after Alonso’s first-time cross from a Kovačić switch is cleared. The corner’s taken short and worked to Barkley, who tries his luck from 20-25 yards but pulls his shot well wide of the far post.

26min: More direct from Hudson-Odoi this time on the right wing and he leaves Lichaj in his dust, but his cross is headed clear by Taffazoli.

25min: Chelsea pass through the press and find Hudson-Odoi wide right. He holds the ball up and Chelsea set up shop in the final third. A bit of passing around later, a ball into Michy is won by the defenders, but they immediately give it back. Chelsea absolutely dominant in possession, but need to start looking for a goal again.

21min: Mount running through the midfield once again, with Pedro dropping deep in transition; this time he goes at it alone, but sees his left-footed shot blocked.

20min: A series of inaccurate passes from both sides make for a poor couple minutes of football.

19min: Azpi wins a free kick wide right, level with the top of the box. Mount delivers, but Hull clear at the far post.

16min: Fantastic passing from Kovačić and Mount finds Barkley running through the middle, but Long makes a tremendous save to keep it at 1-0.

14min: Chelsea hogging possession, looking for Batshuayi. A cross from Azpi is just behind him, but Chelsea recycle possession to the other side and chip in for the striker. He turns his man but his wide-angle shot doesn’t pose much danger. A subsequent corner is cleared ahead of an arriving Alonso at the near post.

12min: Alonso makes a good interception after Chelsea lose out in midfield and Hull win the second ball from a goal kick. Chelsea build from there, then slow it down.

10min: Hudson-Odoi loses out on the right and Hull counter. A cross from the byline is flapped at by Caballero, but fortunately Eaves cannot get the ball under control quickly enough and Chelsea can clear.

9min: Barkley again switches left, finding Alonso, who plays through to Pedro. He gets his cross in this time, but it’s just a bit too long for Hudson-Odoi at the far post.

8min: Barkley switches to Pedro, who’s in a promising position but sees his cross blocked for a corner. Pedro delivers the corner, blocked for another at the near post. Pedro’s second corner is taken short, with a deep cross then easily caught by the goalkeeper.

6min: GOALLLLL MICHY!!!! Chelsea’s first attack starts with Kovačić finding Azpi with a great deep ball. Azpi’s cross is over Michy, but Mount collects on the far side. His shot is blocked, but Michy’s there to put a shot of his own on target, which is partially blocked by a gaggle of defenders, but still loops over the goalkeeper! 1-0, CHELSEA!

4min: Cheap giveaways from Tomori, then Alonso gives Lichaj a chance to play in Eaves, but Zouma’s across to cover and shepherd the ball out of play. But he’s touched it on the way out and Hull have a corner, which they curl out of bounds.

3min: Caballero claims a cross as Bowen swings one in from the left.

2min: Hull City win an early corner as Tomori covers Bowen. Inswinger is cleared at the near post by Kovačić. A follow-up hopeful effort from Herbie “Budget Robben” Kane is miles off target and goes out for a throw.

KICK-OFF: Sadly, Chelsea are in all white rather than the fantastic blue with yellow FA Cup anniversary kit. Hull in their usual orange and black. The home side get us underway.

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It’s FA Cup fourth round action from Hull tonight, with Chelsea looking to advance to the fifth round for the fifth consecutive season. Only twice in the last 21 seasons have we failed to do so.

This competition represents our best chance to win a trophy this season, so let’s not muck it up just yet. Accordingly, Lampard’s named a strong lineup of backups and fringe players, with a couple youngsters on the bench (and no Giroud — bye bye Oli).

Here we go!

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Hull City starting lineup (4-3-3):
Long | Lichaj (c), Tafazzoli, Burke, McKenzie | Kane, Honeyman, Da Silva | Wilks, Eaves, Bowen

Substitutes from: Ingram, Grosicki, McLoughlin, Kingsley, Magennnis, Irvine, Samuelsen

Chelsea starting lineup (4-2-3-1):
Caballero | Alonso, Tomori, Zouma, Azpilicueta (c) | Kovačić, Barkley | Hudson-Odoi, Mount, Pedro | Batshuayi

Substitutes from: Cumming, Christensen, Lamptey, Maatsen, Emerson, Gilmour, Willian

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Date / Time: Saturday, January 25, 2020, 17.30 GMT; 12.30pm EST; 11pm
Venue: KCOM Stadium, Kingston upon Hull, England
Referee: Craig Pawson

On TV: BT Sport 1 (UK); none (USA); Sony TEN 2 (India); SuperSport 3 (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: BT Sport Live (UK); ESPN+ (USA); Sony LIV (India); DStv Now (NGA) — We (WAGNH) have an affiliate link for ESPN+ if you’re in the US and would like to sign up for the best value in sports streaming (or, if you’re like me, sign up for the Disney-Hulu-ESPN+ bundle).

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Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes!