The Tigers were one of the ties of the round in Monday night's draw
Barry Cooper Hull City correspondent
07:00, 13 Jan 2026
The Tigers will host the Blues at the MKM Stadium next month
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The Tigers will host the Blues at the MKM Stadium next month (Image: George Wood/Getty Images)
As if by magic, Hull City were drawn to face Chelsea in the fourth round of the FA Cup and will welcome back former boss Liam Rosenior in his first month in charge of the Blues.
City's reward for coming through an attritional clash with Blackburn Rovers on Sunday is another home tie against the eight-time winners, who knocked them out at the same stage the last time the Tigers made it into round four in 2019/20.
The game is scheduled to take place over Valentine's weekend next month, but it won't be happening on Saturday, February 14, owing to a clash with Hull FC.
FC kick off their Super League campaign against newly-promoted Bradford Bulls on that Saturday, meaning City's showdown with Chelsea will have to be played across the weekend elsewhere.
Ideally, the game would not be played on Sunday, either, to allow for the pitch to recover from the opening round of Super League, but that remains to be seen.
The games over third round weekend started on Friday night and ran until Monday night, and it's expected that it will be the same again in round four.
Rosenior's return to the MKM Stadium 18 months after leaving will almost certainly see the game picked as one of the prime games for broadcast, and those selections will be confirmed in the coming days, as will all the key ticket information.
It will be the 12th time the pair have met in the FA Cup, with the first a 1-1 draw back in January 1909, and the most recent in 2020 when the Blues were 2-1 winners at the MKM Stadium.
City will also be forced to reschedule their home meeting with Watford, after that was postponed last Sunday. It's expected that it could be pencilled in before the visit of the Blues next month. Their trip to Ipswich Town, which was originally scheduled for February 14, will also need to be rescheduled.
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