Hull City go into Hull City vs Aston Villa with two wins from two and a real shot at a rare early-season milestone. Aston Villa arrive with two league defeats, no shot on target, and a selection puzzle Unai Emery still has to solve.
Hull's start and Villa's problems
Hull stunned Manchester United 2-0 in their season opener, then followed that with a late winner to beat Coventry, who finished 22 points above them in the Championship last season. That is the kind of start that changes a home crowd's mood quickly, and it has put them in position to push for three wins from three.
Villa's opening two league games have been the opposite. They have lost both without recording a shot on target, which is a poor place to be before a trip to the MKM Stadium. Their -5 goal difference adds to the pressure, even if this is still only September.
Hull are chasing something more specific than a good run. They would become only the second newly promoted team in Premier League history to win their first three matches, and the market has them at 3/1 to do it. Villa are 17/20 for the win, with the draw at 5/2, so the odds still expect Emery's side to steady things.
Villa's team news and Jackson's role
The attacking change to watch is Nicolas Jackson. One of the new signings is set to start up front, while Emery will hope Ollie Watkins's absence from the list of big-name outs does not leave Villa short of threat again. Jackson has only one Premier League appearance for Villa so far, but that is still enough to make this a quick test of trust in him.
Football365's preview leaned towards a response from Villa, saying Hull have done brilliantly so far but a reality check is surely just around the corner and Villa could be the team to administer it. Saturday's kick-off is at 5.30pm BST on 5 September at the MKM Stadium, with Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event showing it live in the UK from 5pm.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
