Sheffield United, Burnley and Luton remain without a win since their promotion to the Premier League after the weekend’s games.
It is only the second time a trio of promoted teams have all been winless having all played at least five games and, with those teams making up the current relegation zone, the PA news agency looks at the history of slow starts for Premier League newcomers and what it means for their survival prospects.
Wait goes on after Blades battered
Newcastle set a Premier League record as eight of their players scored in a stunning 8-0 rout of Sheffield United on Sunday, sending the Blades bottom on goal difference, with all three promoted sides on one point each.
Luton opened their account the previous day, albeit with the help of a controversial penalty against 10-man Wolves, while Burnley’s only point came from last Monday’s 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest. The Blades held Everton 2-2 on September 2.
While the Newcastle hammering was the South Yorkshire side’s sixth game of the season, Luton and Burnley have played only five after their season opener was postponed due to reconstruction work at Kenilworth Road.
Only once before, in 2004-05, have all three promoted teams been winless after five games – and even then, Norwich and West Brom each had three draws on the board, with Crystal Palace trailing on one point.
Palace and Norwich were duly relegated that season, but West Brom survived with victory over Portsmouth on the final day – Pompey’s bitter rivals Southampton were the other team relegated.
Indeed, of 17 promoted teams to go five games without a win before this season, the Baggies are the only one to avoid relegation. Bryan Robson’s side also became the first in Premier League history to stay up having been bottom at Christmas, the position they still occupied going into that final game.
More pain in store?
All three teams are still some way from the record winless start for a promoted team, with Swindon taking until their 16th game to get in the win column in 1993-94.
Town finished that season bottom of the 22-team table with five wins and 30 points from 42 games in what remains their only top-flight campaign.
Norwich took 14 games in the aforementioned 2004-05 season to break their duck, albeit with eight draws along the way, and 11 on their way to another relegation in 2021-22.
Three other teams – Watford in 2006-07, Reading in 2012-13 and Burnley in 2014-15 – went 10 games without a win following promotion.
The early-season form of this season’s bottom three is prompting talk of Derby’s record low Premier League points total of 11 in 2007-08 – indeed, Luton were identified in some quarters as a candidate for the unwanted record before the season even began.
But even the Rams won their sixth game of that cursed season, 1-0 against Newcastle, before failing to win the rest of the way – that ongoing 32-game run remains a Premier League record over 15 years later.
The Blades have already gone longer without a win, while their counterparts may be looking to October 3’s rescheduled meeting to keep their names out of unwanted company.
Eddie Howe backs ‘brilliant shot-stopper’ Martin Dubravka to replace Nick Pope
Eddie Howe has backed Martin Dubravka to plug the sizeable gap left by Nick Pope as Newcastle’s first-choice goalkeeper faces up to four months on the sidelines.
Magpies head coach Howe’s worst fears over the shoulder injury which Pope suffered during Saturday night’s 1-0 Premier League win over Manchester United have been confirmed, with the 31-year-old due to undergo surgery which will sideline him for four months and leave him in a race against time to make England’s Euro 2024 squad.
However, the £10million man’s misfortune – he dislocated his left shoulder as he dived in an attempt to save a Sergio Reguilon shot – will open the door for his deputies Dubravka, Loris Karius and Mark Gillespie with the Slovakia international, who came off the bench at the weekend, the man first in line to replace him starting at Everton on Thursday evening.
Howe said: “We really believe in Martin and I’ve always had that high opinion of him.
“Yes, we brought in Nick – we wanted to build competition for places, we wanted to build a squad that we felt could really carry us to great success – but Martin is a high-class goalkeeper.
“He’s a brilliant shot-stopper himself, he’s very good with his feet and his distribution, so no hesitation about bringing Martin into the team and I hope he does really well.”
Newcastle have been linked with a move for former Manchester United keeper David de Gea in recent days, but Howe insisted no approaches have been made.
View this post on InstagramHe said: “We have not made any inquiries or any decisions about our recruitment leading into January.“This is a chance for the goalkeepers we have at the football club to consolidate their positions, and that will be the same for every other position at the club.”
Howe had earlier confirmed that Pope is awaiting a final decision on the way forward, but that surgery was inevitable.
He said: “We anticipate he’ll be operated on – there’s no doubt he needs an operation – so he will be out for a period of time.
“The operation hasn’t happened yet, but we’re thinking roughly around four months, so it’s a big blow to us, but one that we expected after the game.
“He’s naturally down because at this stage of the season where we have so many games, huge games coming up – he’s got, obviously, the Euros ahead of him as well, which he was determined to try to be involved in, and there’s still chance of that for him.
“But I think his main determination is to come back for us, and you never know what situation we’ll be in at that stage of the season, so it could be a lot worse for him.”
Gary O’Neil hails ‘very impressive’ Wolves match-winner Hwang Hee-chan
Gary O’Neil hailed match-winner Hwang Hee-chan after Wolves edged out Burnley.
The striker’s first-half goal – his ninth of the season – condemned the Clarets to a 1-0 defeat at Molineux on Tuesday evening.
Wolves moved 11 points clear of the Premier League’s relegation zone with South Korea international Hwang earning praise from the boss.
“The numbers are incredibly impressive,” Boss O’Neil said. “Everything about him is impressive, will he continue at this rate for the rest of the season? I hope so. If the team can keep performing.
“When the ball falls to him in the penalty area I have a really good feeling he will be in the right area.
“It’s no fluke he has as many goals as he has, he’s bought in fully to what we’re trying to do. He arrives in good areas time and time again.
“It was a massive win for us. They are a good side, maybe it’s disrespectful to say ‘job done’ because they won the Championship by a long way last season, were the sixth or seventh biggest spenders in the summer. They have every right to be competitive, I’m really pleased as it’s a big win.”
Pablo Sarabia twice went close before Dan Bentley saved from Sander Berge and Josh Brownhill.
But Burnley shot themselves in the foot three minutes before the break to gift Wolves a winner.
James Trafford and Dara O’Shea played out of the back to find Berge, but the midfielder’s heavy touch allowed Sarabia to steal in and find Matheus Cunha.
He then picked out the unmarked Hwang who beat Trafford with a low finish for his ninth goal of the season.
From then Burnley struggled to create, with Bentley never troubled, as Wolves earned a first clean sheet since August and are now five unbeaten at home.
Burnley remain in the drop zone after a 12th defeat in 15 games and are three points from the safety line having beaten Sheffield United 5-0 on Saturday, but failed to follow it up.
Boss Vincent Kompany said: “It’s decided in moments, we had ours, didn’t take them and in one of the few chances we conceded, we concede a goal.
“I looked at it quickly but we’ll have to do an analysis. If something went wrong it wasn’t just decided by this one moment, we can look at ourselves and say we should have scored.
“We have been in games for quite some time now, we have to believe this will give us the results.
“We play against teams with quality, we have to stay in positions where we can get results and today was close. This is where we need to step it up.”
Football rumours: Race hotting up in pursuit of Joao Palhinha
Bayern Munich will face stiff competition in their pursuit off Fulham midfielder Joao Palhinha, 28. The Daily Telegraph reports at least two Premier League sides are watching the Portuguese player ahead of the January transfer window.
Arsenal are eyeing a move for Juventus youngster Kenan Yildiz, according to The Sun via Turkish-Football. The 18-year-old moved from Bayern Munich in the summer and earned his first Turkish call-up in October.
Jadon Sancho remains on course for a January exit from Manchester United. The Daily Mirror reports the England winger, 23, is “training like a beast” to prepare for the transfer window.
Social media round-upPlayers to watchDouglas Luiz: Aston Villa have put a £110million price tag on the midfielder to fend off interest, according to Football Transfers with Arsenal leading the pursuers.
Samuel Iling-Junior: Tottenham and Newcastle are interested in the English winger, 20, with Juventus making him available, according to Italian publication Tuttomercatoweb.
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