This campaign’s promoted trio are so far defying pre-season predictions that they would all head immediately back down but how does their performance rank amongst other recent promoted teams?

Hull, Ipswich and Coventry are all currently out of the relegation zone and are so far looking a good bet to have at least one of them staying up.

Here’s how their start after nine games compares to the last 10 promoted trios…

10) Luton Town, Burnley and Sheffield United (2023/24)
Luton, Burnley and Sheffield United managed just 10 points between them after the first nine matches back in 2023.

Taking the majority of the blame were the Blades, who had just one point in that spell. They were 19th but spared last place by Everton, who had been deducted points. Because remember when teams were deducted points.

Burnley and Luton were just narrowly outside of the drop zone but come May, all three were down. Sheffield United also conceded a record 104 goals that season.

Combined points: 10
Average position: 17
Fate: All three down

9) Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton (2024/25)
The worst performance of the last 10 years in terms of average league position came in the 2024/25 season when Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton averaged 18th.

That number is massively skewed by the Saints, who were awful and amassed just one point from their first nine games; they would only add another 11 before the season’s end.

Ipswich were yet to win while Leicester had made a decent start, getting themselves up to 15th on nine points.

But all three went down. Southampton were just one point away from Derby’s record while Ipswich and Leicester only managed 22 and 25 points between them.

Combined points: 14
Average position: 18
Fate: All three down

8) Leeds United, Fulham and West Bromwich Albion (2020/21)
Leeds were one of the standout teams at the start of the 2020/21 season thanks to Bielsa-ball but the other two promoted sides brought down the average.

They had a combined 18 points, half of which came from Leeds, and both Fulham and West Brom were in the drop zone.

That pattern remained throughout the year with Leeds staying up via a ninth-place finish while both Fulham and West Brom went down.

Combined points: 18
Average position: 17th
Fate: Two down

7) Brentford, Watford and Norwich City (2021/22)
The 2021/22 season is two good teams being dragged down by one incredibly bad one.

Brentford and Watford had started off well enough with 12 and 10 points from their opening nine matches but Norwich were awful.

They managed to score just two goals while conceding 23 and two draws were all they had to show for their early efforts.

Daniel Farke got the sack but Dean Smith could also not plug the leaky defence with the Canaries conceding 84 goals, the eighth most of a Premier League campaign.

They went down – as did Watford – but Brentford survived. And they’re still there.

Combined points: 24
Average position: 15th
Fate: Two down

6) Wolverhampton Wanderers, Cardiff City and Fulham (2018/19)
Nuno’s Wolves were very good. And then there were the other two.

The Portuguese-led Molineux side were up in ninth having got 15 points but Cardiff and Fulham had only 10 between them.

It should come as little surprise then that it was only Wolves who stayed up; Fulham went down in 19th while Cardiff were relegated two points away from safety.

Wolves finished seventh and got Europa League football.

Combined points: 25
Average position: 15th
Fate: Two down

5) Fulham, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest (2022/23)
Fulham made an excellent start to the 2022/23 campaign having scored 106 goals in their promotion campaign, the second highest of all time.

They were up in seventh after nine games in the top flight with 14 points while Brentford had made a decent start too with nine.

The same can’t be said of Forest, who had just four points and were 20th in the table.

But the Tricky Trees recovered and all three stayed up, just the fourth and most recent time in Premier League history that the promoted trio all survived.

Combined points: 27
Average position: 14th
Fate: All three survived

4) Sheffield United, Aston Villa and Norwich City (2019/20)
Sheffield United and Aston Villa both made strong starts to the 2019/20 campaign, recording 12 and 11 points after the opening nine games.

Norwich were less good. They only ‘amassed’ seven which had them 19th in the table, ahead of just Watford.

Come the end of the year, Villa had been sucked closer to the relegation zone and survived by a single point while Norwich were relegated in last and 14 points from safety.

Sheffield United finished in ninth in one of the biggest surprises of the season.

Combined points: 30
Average position: 13th
Fate: One down

3) Hull City, Ipswich Town and Coventry City (2026/27)
The current promoted trio have put together the third best start of the last 10 seasons purely on points collected.

Coventry had been slow to get going but are now up to nine points while Hull and Ipswich both have 11.

There is a good omen in that of the two trios that had registered more points at this stage, only one team went down.

Combined points: 31
Average position: 13th
Fate: TBC

2) Newcastle United, Huddersfield Town and Brighton & Hove Albion (2017/18)
Rafa Benitez’s Newcastle bounced back from their brief foray into the Championship by amassing 14 points in the first nine games, putting them seventh in the table.

But if that was somewhat expected for a club the size of Newcastle, Huddersfield’s early performance took everyone by surprise as they managed 12 points from their opening fixtures.

Brighton meanwhile had 11 and all three stayed up.

Combined points: 37
Average position: 10th
Fate: All three survived

1) Sunderland, Leeds United and Burnley (2025/26)
The standout promoted trio of the last 10 years was last season when Sunderland, Leeds and Burnley combined for 38 points after their first nine games.

The majority of those came from Sunderland, who had shocked everyone to be fourth in the league, but Leeds and Burnley were not doing badly in 15th and 16th respectively.

Come the end of the season, Sunderland qualified for Europe while Leeds comfortably survived in 14th, but Burnley went down.

Combined points: 38
Average position: 12th
Fate: One down