How well do the three promoted clubs compare to previous years?

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The last two seasons have highlighted how difficult it is for promoted teams to survive in the Premier League.

After Luton Town, Burnley and Sheffield United were relegated in 2023/24, having only just emerged, Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton all went straight down 12 months later.

However, this season feels different, as Sunderland, Leeds United and, to a somewhat lesser extent, Burnley have started well.

But how does their performance measure up against promoted teams from previous years?

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Overall note

Position	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	G-d	Points
9th	Sunderland	7	3	2	2	7	6	1	11
15	Leeds	7	2	2	3	7	11	-4	8
18th	Burnley	7	1	1	5	7	15	-8	4

Sunderland, Leeds and Burnley have a combined 23 points in Gameweeks 1-7.

At the same stage in 2024/25, Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton have taken just 11 points from their opening seven games.

Two of the three, Ipswich and Southampton, are yet to win.

The previous season, promoted teams fared worse, as Luton, Burnley and Sheff Utd could only muster nine points.

So, while the sample size is small, the early signs are good.

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Promoted side points after seven games

Season	Promoted teams (points)	Points (combined)
2017/18	Newcastle (10), Huddersfield (9), Brighton (7)	26
2025/26	Sunderland (11), Leeds (8), Burnley (4)	23
2022/23	Fulham (11), Bournemouth (7), Nott’m Forest (4)	22
2021/22	Brentford (12), Watford (7), Norwich (1)	20
2016/17	Burnley (7), Hull (7), Middlesbrough (6)	20
2018/19	Wolves (12), Fulham (5), Cardiff (2)	19
2019/20	Sheff Utd (8), Norwich (6), Aston Villa (5)	19
2020/21	Leeds (10), Fulham (4), West Brom (3)	17
2024/25	Leicester (6), Ipswich (4), Southampton (1)	11
2023/24	Burnley (4), Luton (4), Sheffield United (1)	9

*Premier League since 2016/17 only

In fact, since the 2016/17 season, promoted teams have got off to a better start only once, when Newcastle United, Huddersfield Town and Brighton and Hove Albion collectively earned 26 points in their first seven games.

Notably, all three teams managed to avoid a downturn that season.

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Best starts with a side promoted since 2016/17

Season	Team	Points (after seven games)	Last PL position
2021/22	Brentford	12	13
2018/19	Wolf	12	7
2022/23	Fulham	11	10th
2025/26	Sunderland	11	?
2020/21	Leeds	10	9th
2017/18	Newcastle	10	10th

Since 2016/17, only two promoted teams – Brentford (2021/22) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (2018/19) – have made a better start to a Premier League season than Sunderland.

Additionally, every promoted team that has started the season with as many points has managed to survive.

At this point, it is important to note that Regis le Bris’ side have had the second-best start according to our fixture ticker.

Nonetheless, initial results are promising:

Graphic from Whoscored

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Defensive solidity offers hope

2025/26 After seven games

Team	Target	xg	Goal conceded	Xgc	Clean sheet
Sunderland	7	6.37	6	8.83	3
Leeds	7	7.77	11	8.13	2
Burnley	7	4.94	15	13.66	1

2024/25 After seven games

Team	Target	xg	Goal conceded	Xgc	Clean sheet
Leicester	9	5.10	12	14.81	1
Ipswich	6	5.06	14	15.70	1
Southampton	4	8.34	15	14.05	0

2023/24 After seven games

Team	Target	xg	Goal conceded	Xgc	Clean sheet
Burnley	6	5.82	16	13.25	0
Luton	6	8.88	14	12.88	0
Sheff United	5	5.54	19	17.66	0

One common weakness among newly promoted teams in recent seasons has been a lack of defensive solidity.

However, this season, Sunderland and Leeds look much stronger, which gives them a platform to secure important points.

Together, they have conceded just 17 goals in 14 games, and considering that five of them were in Leeds’ defeat to Arsenal in Gameweek 2, it suggests they have the capacity to avoid relegation.

Indeed, Regis le Bris and Daniel Farke have both stressed the importance of a clean slate in recent weeks.

“We can’t expect anything if we don’t defend well. So, obviously coming here we have to defend very well, mid-block, low block even a little higher in the first half, we did it well, not perfect but enough to keep a clean sheet.” – – Regis Bris

“We are newly promoted [side] And it’s obviously normal that we won’t take the league by storm. The first step is to be rock solid at the back and hard to beat, and that’s what we are. ” – Daniel Farke

In contrast, Burnley were much more open, ranking -20th for expected goals conceded (XGC) and shipping 15 actual goals, a trend reminiscent of the struggles seen in the last two campaigns.

That said, it’s important to remember that the Clarets have encountered a very tough fixture (tot/sun/mun/liv/nfo/mci/avl), which is, in fact, the second toughest of any team according to our fixture ticker.

Back at Sunderland, who topped the ticker in Gameweeks 1-6, they have a tougher challenge ahead. The December schedule, for example, includes away games against Liverpool and Manchester City, followed by a Derby tie against Newcastle United.

The situation is further complicated by the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), where Le Bris could be without as many as seven first-team players.

That said, Sunderland’s form at the start of the season certainly suggests they can break the trend of going straight back.

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