The standard at the top of the Premier League has been exceptional for many years and, as is natural, that increase in quality is working its way down the division. As a result, surviving a season in the Premier League has arguably become tougher than ever, as the three clubs promoted from the Championship are finding so far.
After five games each, the promoted clubs do not have a win between them. Leicester and Ipswich have taken three points each, all from draws, whilst Southampton have just a single point, which in itself was in disappointing circumstances after conceding late to Ipswich.
So is there any hope for any of the promoted clubs to survive? Or will all three clubs go down for the second season in a row for the first time in Premier League history?
Leicester City
On the face of it, last season's Championship champions look the have the best chance of staying up. The former Premier League champions enjoyed nine seasons in the top flight before their relegation in 2023.
The Foxes' squad boasts a wealth of Premier League experience as well as an exciting crop of young players. New manager Steve Cooper knows how to do the business in the Premier League after keeping Nottingham Forest up, and his side have looked bright going forward so far in 2024/2025.
Unlike Southampton and Ipswich, Leicester have scored in every game since their return to the Premier League.
None of the Foxes' results have looked all that bad up until this weekend either.
After drawing 1 - 1 with Tottenham in their season-opener, Steve Cooper's side lost back-to-back games to Fulham and Aston Villa, both by 2 - 1 scorelines. Frustrating results, yes, but both Fulham and Villa have made strong starts to this Premier League season.
The 2 - 2 draw at Crystal Palace was frustrating given the 2 - 0 lead Leicester worked themselves into, but still a credible point. Really it was the failure to find a winner in the stormy 1 - 1 draw with Everton this weekend which grouped Leicester with the bottom clubs.
It wasn't that poor of a performance from the former champions, but it was a game they might look back on at the end of the season if they don't beat the drop.
What Leicester need now is to go on a good run. Arsenal away probably wouldn't be their preferred fixture this weekend, but after the trip to North London the Foxes face Bournemouth, Southampton, Nottingham Forest and Ipswich.
Aside from a Steve Cooper derby (if you will) against red-hot Forest, that's a great pattern of fixtures for Leicester to find some form.
On the face of it, Leicester have shown just enough to convince their supporters that they're in with a shot of surviving, as have the side who finished runners-up to them in the Championship last season.
Ipswich Town
A dream over two decades in the making was realised when Ipswich Town walked out at Portman Road to open up a Premier League campaign. They had the daunting task of opening up against Arne Slot's new Liverpool side and for an hour, they looked like they might just pull off the opening day shock to end all opening day shocks.
But after Diogo Jota finished off a Premier League level counter-attack for Liverpool, Ipswich crumbled. Five minutes later Mo Salah made it two and it was only down to poor finishing from the visitors that it remained 2 - 0.
Surely though after starting out at home to Liverpool it would get a bit easier right? Wrong.
After hosting the six-time European Champions, Ipswich travelled to the Etihad to face the all-conquering Manchester City, where the Premier League new-boys made the worst mistake they possibly could've made just seven minutes into the game; they scored.
Sami Szmodics beat City's high line and squeezed the ball past Ederson to score Ipswich Town's first Premier League goal for 22 years just seven minutes in at the home of the Champions.
Glorious as the moment was for the Tractor Boys, it didn't last. Just nine minutes later they were 3 - 1 down in a game they would eventually lose 4 - 1, largely because a certain Norwegian fancied his first hat-trick of the season.
Two defeats from two is obviously not the ideal start for a newly promoted club, but Ipswich have managed three draws since then, meaning they haven't lost to any team aside from Liverpool or Manchester City and even Liverpool can't boast that.
Kieran McKenna's side showed real character to salvage a point against Southampton and earned credible draws with Fulham and high-flying Brighton either side of the international break.
While they lack the experience of Leicester, Ipswich certainly have the steely determination to grind out points and that's just about the best quality a side in a relegation fight can have. It seems inevitable that the Tractor Boys will be in the fight to survive but the early signs suggest it's a fight they have a real chance of winning.
Southampton
The signs are not so positive for Southampton. The Saints have just a single point from their opening five games and sit just two goals off the foot of the table. In truth it's only because Everton have enjoyed a similarly miserable start and Wolves being dealt incredibly tough fixtures that Southampton don't find themselves bottom of the pile.
Nothing has gone Southampton's way in the Premier League and it started right from the off. In what was admittedly a tough opening assignment away to Newcastle, the Saints were handed a man advantage less than half-an-hour into the game when Fabian Schar was (softly) dismissed.
But a calamity of a goal conceded right on half time put Russell Martin's team on the back foot and they couldn't recover. It was a similar story after going behind to Nottingham Forest the following week, another game which ended in a 1 - 0 defeat.
There was optimism that Southampton could find some form in the Premier League after a thrilling 5 - 3 win away to Cardiff City in the Carabao Cup, but the reality was quite the opposite, as both Brentford and Manchester United swept the Saints aside in the following ten days.
Another Carabao Cup success, this time against Everton on penalties, was nothing more than a token for the Saints, who conceded a 95th-minute equaliser to Ipswich last weekend.
Of course dropping points so late is heartbreaking for any team, but the psychological blow goes even deeper for Southampton, as their only point of the season so far is somewhat tainted. Yes, they've got a point, but they really should have three.
Quite simply it hasn't been good enough from Southampton. Neither Ipswich nor Leicester have got off to a flyer, but the fight is there in both teams. Their supporters leave the various Premier League grounds each week with no doubt that their players gave it 100%.
The harsh reality is that it isn't the same for Southampton. Much like fellow-strugglers Everton the players often look beaten well before the end of a game.
And even though Wolves have started as badly in terms of points, they've already played four of last season's top seven in their opening five games, with the other game a 1 - 1 draw with a Nottingham Forest side that is on fire at the moment.
The surprising yet blistering form of Forest is in fact a blow to all three promoted clubs.
Forest have secured survival in their 37th and 38th games of their first two seasons back in the Premier League but are off to a flyer the third time around, already securing nine points.
The fixtures haven't been straightforward either; before their 2 - 2 draw against Brighton this weekend, Forest stunned Liverpool at Anfield; the last time the Reds beat the slightly more famous Reds on their own patch, no one had walked on the moon.
The promoted clubs, especially Southampton, can take a crucial lesson from all four of the teams who played last Sunday.
Brighton, Forest, City and Arsenal left absolutely everything out on the pitch to maintain their unbeaten starts. That means so much more to fans than the quality of the performance and arguably builds confidence more quickly.
Surviving in the Premier League is a difficult thing to do, but whilst Leicester and Ipswich are doing a lot of the right things, Southampton are making life even more difficult for themselves with silly mistakes and poor game management. It looks far more ominous so far for the Saints than it does for other two promoted sides.
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