Newly-promoted Hull City are the bookies’ favourites to go straight back down, but could any of their defensive options in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) still offer value?
This article will explore the Tigers’ overall clean sheet potential and highlight their key picks at the back.
To get a fan’s perspective, we’ve got input from Danny MacDonald.
In case you missed it, our ‘Promoted’ series has already profiled manager Sergej Jakirovic.
Data comes from StatsBomb, FBref, Fotmob and WhoScored.
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WHAT IS HULL’S CLEAN SHEET POTENTIAL?
| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | CS | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall record | 46 | 21 | 10 | 15 | 70 | 66 | +4 | 11 | 73 |
| Home | 23 | 11 | 5 | 7 | 35 | 34 | +1 | 5 | 38 |
| Away | 23 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 35 | 32 | +3 | 6 | 35 |
We touched on Hull’s defensive numbers in our previous article on Jakirovic.
Simply put, they were really poor – 21st for actual goals conceded, and 23rd for expected goals conceded (xGC).
The only team recently promoted to concede as many goals as Hull did last season was Southampton in 2023/24, with 63.
In the subsequent campaign, the Saints went on to concede 86 goals in the Premier League, so it’s a real concern for Hull.
| Season | Promotion-winning season goals conceded | Record in Premier League the following season |
|---|---|---|
| 2021/22 | Fulham (43) Bournemouth (39) Nott’m Forest (40) | Fulham (53) Bournemouth (71) Nott’m Forest (68) |
| 2022/23 | Burnley (35) Sheff Utd (39) Luton (39) | Burnley (78) Sheff Utd (104) Luton (85) |
| 2023/24 | Leicester (41) Ipswich (57) Southampton (63) | Leicester (80) Ipswich (82) Southampton (86) |
| 2024/25 | Leeds (30) Burnley (16) Sunderland (44) | Leeds (56) Burnley (75) Sunderland (48) |
| 2025/26 | Coventry (45) Ipswich (47) Hull (66) | ? |
On the clean sheet front, Hull recorded 11 shut-outs, with five at home and six away.
A bit of context into those defensive numbers is perhaps required, however.
“Last season, we were quite solid against the better sides, but we struggled defensively when we opened up against the mid-table/bottom of the table teams. With the exception of the 4-1 defeat at home to Middlesbrough in December (a game in which went very gung-ho), against the better clubs we’ve proven ourselves to be able to soak up the pressure, restrict the opposition to several low-value chances and limited big chances against our goal.
“An example of this being the games against Coventry (two goalless draws), Southampton (3-1 and 2-1 wins) and Middlesbrough (beating them 1-0 both at the Riverside Stadium and Wembley). Our away form last season was one of the best in the league, which reflected how good we were at playing this style.” – Danny
Above: Hull’s home and away results in the Championship last season
The graphic below shows Hull’s six-match xGC tally since the start of the 2025/26 season:
THE PLAYERS
2025/26: APPS, GOALS AND ASSISTS
| Player | Primary position in 2025/26 | Starts (sub apps) | Mins | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Giles | LB | 30 (2) | 2,481 | 0 | 8 |
| Lewie Coyle | RB | 37 (2) | 3,184 | 0 | 4 |
| John Egan | CB | 39 (3) | 3,416 | 3 | 0 |
| Charlie Hughes | CB | 36 (2) | 3,189 | 1 | 1 |
| Semi Ajayi | CB | 18 (4) | 1,656 | 1 | 0 |
| Akin Femewo* | LB | 7 (8) | 689 | 1 | 0 |
| Cody Drameh | RB | 16 (6) | 1,434 | 0 | 1 |
| Paddy McNair | CB | 6 (6) | 707 | 0 | 1 |
| Cathal McCarthy | CB | 1 (5) | 243 | 0 | 0 |
| Matty Jacob | LB | 1 (4) | 176 | 0 | 0 |
| Brandon Williams* | CB | 0 (1) | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Ivor Pandur* | GK | 45 | 4,050 | 0 | 0 |
| Dillon Phillips | GK | 1 | 95 | 0 | 0 |
DEFENDERS
GOAL THREAT
A familiar name among Fantasy managers, John Egan (£4.0m) was Hull’s top-scoring defender in 2025/26, scoring three times. The experienced centre-back, who previously played for Sheffield United in the Premier League, also topped the charts for shots taken (24).
Fellow centre-back and Hull’s Young Player of the Year for two seasons running, Charlie Hughes (£4.0m) impressed, but netted just one goal, a looping header.
Full-backs Ryan Giles (£4.0m) and Lewie Coyle (£4.0m) both recorded 12 shots, mostly from outside the box, which explains their low xG per shot numbers.
As for Semi Ajayi (£4.0m), he was restricted to 18 starts due to injury and the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), but did start the play-off final in a back three. In terms of shots per 90 minutes, his rate of 0.53 was on par with Egan.
ASSIST POTENTIAL
One of the Championship’s best attacking full-backs, Giles led the way for assists (eight) and key passes (41), helped by a part-role on set plays. In fact, no Hull player in any position created more chances than the former Luton Town man in 2025/26.
A constant threat down the left flank, six of his eight assists were for target man Oli McBurnie (£5.5m).
The Tigers’ captain Coyle enjoyed a decent season and was second among Hull defenders for both assists (four) and key passes (37), but did play over 800 minutes more than fellow full-back Giles, who still had the superior numbers.
Cody Drameh (£4.0m) was the only other Hull defender in double figures for key passes, but was frequently injured.
DEFCON POTENTIAL
During the play-offs, our admittedly small sample period, we can see that centre-backs Egan and Hughes both hit the defensive contribution (DefCon) threshold in two games.
They were close in the other one, too.
| Opposition | Player (DefCons total) | Clearances | Blocks | Interceptions | Tackles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Millwall (h) | Hughes (14) Giles (11) Egan (9) | 10 3 4 | 2 1 3 | 1 4 0 | 1 3 2 |
| Millwall (a) | Egan (14) Hughes (9) | 12 7 | 1 0 | 0 2 | 1 0 |
| Middlesbrough (n) | Egan (15) Hughes (13) | 10 7 | 1 1 | 1 3 | 3 2 |
During the Championship season, Hughes had the best DefCon rate of any Hull defender, with 11.78.
Egan had an average of 10.27 p90.
GOALKEEPERS
Ivor Pandur missed only one match last season, when reserve goalkeeper Dillon Phillips made his first league start. The Croatian international kept 11 clean sheets in 45 games and, aside from a few mistakes, was pretty solid.
Given how many shots Hull faced in 2025/26, it’s no surprise that Pandur ranked second in the Championship for total saves (142), with a save percentage of just over 68%.
However, clean sheets – the bread and butter for FPL goalkeepers – were recorded in only 24.4% of his appearances, which is much lower than that of Ipswich Town’s Christian Walton (£4.5m, 44.4%) and Coventry City’s Carl Rushworth (£4.5m, 37.0%).
Pandur has since departed for Rangers, with Jack Butland (£4.5m) moving in the opposite direction.
“Look out for us signing a new number one goalkeeper. We are being linked with some very interesting names, and they’ll be having to save a fair few shots this season! Jack Butland will be the backup ‘keeper.” – Danny
FINAL WORD
Giles could supply a few assists next season, especially if he plays as a wing-back, but one of the DefCon centre-backs is still probably the way to go.
Egan and Hughes, who were among Hull’s best performers last season, both fit the bill of a £4.0m defender, so could perhaps become cheap bench fodder options.
Hughes, in particular, could rack up some serious DefCon scores.
“What made us so successful last season was that we were very effective at defending without the ball and hurting teams on transition. This particularly relied on excellent penalty box defending, which is perfect for our centre-backs who will accumulate a lot of DefCons as a result.
“I think we will adapt a 5-4-1 formation to start the season and that will make our three centre-halves very good, cheap options. In particular Charlie Hughes, who has a huge future ahead of him.” – Danny
However, Hull come up with real defensive weaknesses, which may justify their tag as whipping boys.
The opening fixtures haven’t done them any favours, either:
There is improvement from Gameweek 6, however, so Hughes could potentially be a cheap £4.0m option.
Just be aware, we’re expecting a wave of signings at Hull in the coming weeks, which may shift the current landscape.
