Worst. Relegation Battle. Ever: New low for promoted teams،
They say the table doesn’t lie, and it certainly reveals some harsh truths for the Premier League’s bottom three as we head into the November international break.
With around a third of the 2023-24 campaign already played, the trio of promoted sides – Luton Town, Sheffield United and Burnley – are all entrenched in the relegation zone with just one win each to their name so far.
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And in terms of points on the table, all three teams are still in single figures: Luton, 18th, fares best with a total of six points, Sheffield United (19th) has five and Burnley (20th) has four . This means that the bottom three have accumulated 15 points between them from a total of 36 games played.
Things are already looking bleak at the bottom of the table, with Sheffield United the only team in the bottom three to have recorded a win in their last five games. The situation looks even more dire at Turf Moor, where Vincent Kompany’s struggling Burnley side – promoted to runaway winners of the 2022-23 Championship with 101 points and 87 goals scored in 46 games – are on a five-game losing streak, the worst. sets a record in the elite this season.
As for the three promoted teams, the 2023-24 Premier League season has seen the worst start on record for teams from the Championship, with teams ranked 20th, 19th and 18th contributing to the lowest collective points total ever. at this time of the season. Indeed, there is only one other occasion where the trio of new clubs have found themselves in the relegation zone together after 12 rounds of matches, and even they have managed to eclipse the numbers posted this year.
No Premier League team has ever taken fewer points after 12 games than the four Burnley have collected so far this season. The previous record for an individual club was the five points amassed by Fulham (2018-19), Sunderland (2005-06) and Swindon Town (1993-94). Fulham and Sunderland managed to pick up one win and two draws from their opening 12 games, while Swindon’s five points came via five draws.
For the record, the highest points total recorded by a newly promoted team after 12 games stands at an impressive 27, achieved by both Nottingham Forest (1994-95) and Sunderland (1999-00.)
Presented for comparison, here’s a look at some of the worst performances delivered by the three promoted sides at this stage since the introduction of the Premier League in 1992-93.
2014-15
The only other Premier League season in which all three newly promoted teams maintained the table after 12 games was the 2014–15 campaign, when Leicester City, Burnley and Queens Park Rangers did so.
However, despite languishing under the dotted line of doom, the three clubs had collectively accumulated 28 points (13 points more than their 2023-24 counterparts), with the Foxes and Clarets both one point behind Hull City , 17th.
At the end of the season, Burnley (19th, 33 points) and QPR (20th, 30 points) were relegated while Leicester managed to rally back to finish in a relatively high 14th place. The following season, they would win the Premier League title under the management of Claudio Ranieri.
1995-96
Without wishing to cast further shade on the performances of Luton, Sheffield United and Burnley this season, the three teams have won fewer points combined than the two – yes, TWO – promoted teams managed to collect in the first third from the 1995 season. -96.
Due to the reduction in the number of Premier League teams from 22 to 20, only two teams were promoted from what was then known as the First Division, namely Middlesbrough and Bolton Wanderers – and yet they when even managed to get more points on the board (30) from their first 12 games than the 2023-24 class.
2007-08
The previous record for the lowest collective points total among the three promoted teams was set in 2007-08 when Derby, Sunderland and Birmingham City collected 26 points together after 12 matches.
Birmingham (11 points) and Sunderland (nine points) occupy 14th and 15th places respectively. However, in what would become their Annus horribilis, Derby were already anchored at the bottom of the table. But at least the struggling Rams could boast six points to their name – more than Burnley and Sheffield United have collected so far this season.
They may be at the bottom of the season, but the good news for the Clarets is that even though they only have four points to their name, they are still on course to break the league’s lowest points record. all time recorded by Derby during their truly dismal 2007. -08 campaign
Winning one game all season, the Rams had 11 points in 38 games – a low total that was never “beaten.” Fortunately, Kompany’s team should reach the grim milestone of Derby in late April/early May.
