Newly promoted sides Coventry City, Ipswich Town and Hull City have collected a combined 31 points after nine games, the 13th-highest tally by promoted sides at this stage in Premier League history.

Hull City and Ipswich account for 22 of those points, with Sergej Jakirovic and Gary O'Neil's sides both sitting on 11.

Coventry are slightly behind their promoted peers, but the Sky Blues' three victories have still earned them a respectable nine points.

And there is further encouragement for the newcomers - since the 2010-11 season, all 18 promoted teams who have collected at least 11 points from their opening nine games have avoided relegation.

The Premier League season had barely begun when Hull City made waves.

In their first match in the top flight since being relegated in 2017, the Tigers stunned Manchester United with a 2-0 victory on the opening weekend.

Although much of the attention centred on what the result meant for United manager Michael Carrick, the Tigers were quickly emerging as one of the season's feel-good stories.

Having earned promotion to the Premier League through the Championship play-offs, Jakirovic's side were flying the flag for the promoted clubs in the early weeks of the campaign.

After following up their opening-day triumph with a 1-0 win at Coventry, Hull earned respectable draws against Aston Villa and Chelsea.

But since suffering their first defeat of the season, the Tigers have collected just three points from their four matches since.

And with Arsenal and Brighton up next, the Tigers will know their impressive start could count for little if they fail to add to their points tally soon.

But the Premier League is a marathon, not a sprint - and all three promoted clubs will have belief that they can build on their encouraging starts.