Hull stun Chelsea with Mohamed Belloumi double | First Touch – Sep 13
Good morning. It’s Sunday, September 13, 2026, and the Premier League is already telling us everything we need to know about this season. While the headlines scream about João Pedro’s brilliance and Hull’s unlikely ascent, there’s a quieter story unfolding: the old guard is wobbling. Chelsea conceded twice to Hull. Liverpool couldn’t break down Fulham. The script we expected has been shredded. Welcome to First Touch.
Hull stun Chelsea with Mohamed Belloumi double before João Pedro rescues a point
Sergej Jakirovic’s Hull City have announced themselves as genuine Premier League contenders, not by accident or fortune, but through the kind of intelligent, dogged football that wins points in September and September points win titles. Chelsea’s away-day blues continued with two goals from Mohamed Belloumi—a player few would have predicted would be terrorizing top-six defences—before João Pedro’s late intervention salvaged a draw that felt like a loss for the Blues.
Hull’s third-place standing after three games is no fluke. This is a team that understands its identity.
Lautaro Martinez completes move to Barcelona as transfer window slams shut
The summer transfer saga ends not with a bang but with one of Serie A’s finest forwards heading to the Camp Nou. Lautaro Martinez’s switch to Barcelona represents the kind of continental realignment that shapes seasons before a ball is kicked. With European windows now closed, the squad hierarchies are fixed. No more cavalry. What you see is what you get.
Every club’s ambitions are now frozen in their current form.
Joao Pedro is as good as Erling Haaland and reminds me of Karim Benzema, says Xabi Alonso
Two goals, two assists in three Premier League games. Xabi Alonso’s comparison to Benzema isn’t hyperbole—it’s an assessment of movement, intelligence, and a striker’s ability to bend a game to his will without relying solely on pace or power. João Pedro’s performance at Hull underlined why: he doesn’t just score, he controls. He doesn’t just finish, he orchestrates.
If this trajectory continues, Chelsea’s rescue point might haunt them come May.
Enzo Le Fée deserves his France call-up—and then some
Zinedine Zidane’s anticipated summons for Sunderland’s Enzo Le Fée represents a moment where domestic form finally pierces through the noise of established hierarchies. Le Fée has been the heartbeat of Sunderland’s early season push, and France’s midfield—eternally competitive, eternally deep—now has to make room. This is the story of the season: young players forcing their way into conversations they weren’t supposed to be having.
Should Spurs get Chelsea’s 2016-17 league title?
An intriguing question emerging from the chaos: if Chelsea’s 2016-17 title was tainted—and the ongoing inquiries suggest complications—does football’s record books need rewriting? Tottenham finished second that year and have waited a decade for redemption since. The irony of Spurs potentially inheriting a title from a season they didn’t win is the kind of football bureaucracy only the Premier League could produce.
Justice delayed is justice complicated.
Napoli-Bologna separates the title contenders from the also-rans
Serie A’s early narrative hinges on how Napoli responds to a fixture that demands perfection without guarantees. Bologna are no longer makeweights in Italian football—they’re a test of championship mentality. This is the kind of match that defines seasons: not the victories over smaller sides, but the performances on neutral ground against teams who believe they belong.
Napoli’s response will tell us everything.
‘Tired’ Liverpool, Chelsea’s leaky defence and Villa’s attacking concerns
The early-season injury toll and fatigue are already reshaping the Premier League narrative. Liverpool looks stretched. Chelsea’s backline is porous in ways it shouldn’t be. Aston Villa’s attacking threat has dimmed. These aren’t doom scenarios—they’re recalibrations. The teams that solve these problems before October will be the ones lifting trophies in May.
Form is temporary; structure is permanent.
Spirit Lake vs Central Lyon/George-Little Rock
American high school football continues its relentless schedule, a reminder that football—in all its forms—is a game without mercy or rest days. While Premier League managers fret over fixture congestion, young athletes across the Atlantic are grinding through their own gauntlets.
Passion needs no passport.
Liverpool 0-0 Fulham: Andoni Iraola’s billion-pound squad fail to find breakthrough as Reds’ Anfield drought continues
One team spent over a billion pounds building a squad. The other arrived pointless and winless. Yet Liverpool couldn’t find a way past Fulham at Anfield, and that tells you everything about where this season is heading. Iraola’s visitors didn’t come to Merseyside to entertain; they came to survive. They did. Meanwhile, Liverpool’s new manager waits for his first Anfield victory, and the knives are already being sharpened.
Money doesn’t buy momentum.
RB Leipzig updates: Goals, cards and substitutions
Leipzig’s weekend fixture delivered the kind of actionable intelligence the Bundesliga demands. In a league where precision and efficiency dictate outcomes, every substitution, every card, every goal carries weight. The German elite never rest on reputation—they earn their place every single weekend.
⚽ First Touch Take
Three weeks in and the Premier League is already unrecognizable from what we predicted. Hull are title challengers. Liverpool are searching. Chelsea are vulnerable. That’s football in 2026—unpredictable, thrilling, and utterly indifferent to our preseason certainties. See you tomorrow.