Charlie Grace

Fri 26 September 2025 12:00, UK

The Premier League’s three newcomers have shot off to one of the best starts in league history for newly promoted teams.

Leeds United, Burnley and Sunderland have all made their mark early on in this Premier League campaign.

Sunderland drew 1-1 with Aston Villa on the weekend and have picked up seven points already at home this season.

Leeds beat Wolves resoundingly away, thanks to a glorious Anton Stach free kick, easing pressure on Daniel Farke at Elland Road.

Meanwhile, Burnley drew thanks to Martin Dubravka’s heroics against Nottingham Forest, earning Scott Parker’s men a much-needed point.

Newly-promoted sides can join exclusive Premier League club

Collectively, the Premier League’s new boys have picked up 19 points, the most of any promoted cohort since 2017, when Newcastle United, Brighton and Huddersfield Town all survived.

It took only two games for all three promoted sides to get their first wins of the season, which is the first time that has occurred since 2016, when Burnley, Middlesbrough and Hull City all achieved the feat.

Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland will hope to mirror the fortunes of the 2017-18 promoted sides, as opposed to the fate of the 2016-17 promoted sides, though, as Middlesbrough and Hull both were relegated back to the Championship after one season.

When compared to last season’s promoted sides, this season’s group pale in comparison, particularly defensively.

After their first five games, Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland are slightly inferior to Ipswich Town, Southampton and Leicester City in an attacking sense, but the three sides are superior in defensive metrics.

Collectively, this season’s promoted sides have conceded six fewer goals and 31 fewer shots than last season’s promoted sides, giving up 6.5 fewer expected goals as well, according to the BBC.

When looking historically, Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland have made the fifth-best start of any promoted group in Premier League history.

If the three sides do stay up, they will become only the fifth newly promoted group in Premier League history to all survive, after 2021-22, 2017-18, 2011-12, 2001-02.

Brentford, West Ham United and Wolves on the back foot

With the three newly promoted sides gaining traction, it means that three of the Premier League’s mainstays are now under threat.

In the last two seasons, the three promoted teams have all been relegated straight back to the Championship, making the Premier League a 17-team closed club.

However, this season, clubs like Brentford, West Ham United and Wolves have got off to slow starts in the Premier League.

Brentford lost their spine in the summer, with Bryan Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa, and Christian Norgaard leaving the side and Thomas Frank departing from the GTech Community Stadium.

As a result of their summer of turmoil, Brentford’s season has got off to a slow start and new boss Keith Andrews seems to be facing an uphill battle with his significantly weakened side.

Wolves were weakened considerably in the summer, losing Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri, and their summer business to replace the pair appears to have been subpar.

Vitor Pereira has been backed by the Wolves hierarchy to turn their season around, but with no points from their opening six games, the Midlands club appears to be losing ground rapidly to their newly promoted rivals in the battle against the drop.

Finally, West Ham United have also started the season poorly, losing four of their first five Premier League games and conceding 13 goals already, the worst goals record in the league so far.

Graham Potter is on the hot seat at the London Stadium, and the Hammers will have to rapidly turn their form around if they’re to stave off the drop this season.