Before a ball had even been kicked in the 2025-26 English Premier League season the three clubs newly promoted from the Championship were already being tipped for relegation.
Even though both Leeds United and Burnley had achieved a record breaking 100 points to secure promotion, recent history was not on their side as for the past two seasons, all three of the newly promoted sides had gone straight back down a division. Sunderland were the third team to join Leeds United and Burnley in the Premier League and did so by beating Sheffield United in the playoff final, however pundits still predicted that the Black Cats would struggle in the top-flight.
| Pos. | Team | Played (W-D-L) | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leeds United (P) | 46 (29-13-4) | 100 |
| 2 | Burnley (P) | 46 (28-16-2) | 100 |
| 3 | Sheffield United | 46 (28-8-10) | 90 |
| 4 | Sunderland (P) | 46 (21-13-12) | 76 |
| 5 | Coventry City | 46 (20-9-17) | 69 |
| 6 | Bristol City | 46 (17-17-12) | 68 |
Now that the opening weekend of fixtures has been played and both Leeds United and Sunderland proved the doubters wrong and achieved impressive victories, this article will examine all three teams’ chances of survival and consider whether this season could be the one to buck the recent relegation trend.
Image: Walt Jabsco via flickr.
Leeds United Victorious
After winning the Championship on goal difference there was much speculation over whether Leeds would stick with their solid German manager Daniel Farke or bring in a manager with stronger Premier League credentials. Paraag Marathe, the Leeds United chairman, decided to stick with Farke. And the early signs are that this decision was a good one, as Leeds had a strong preseason and then beat Everton 1-0 in the opening game of the campaign at Elland Road.
Leeds were dominant in the first half against the Toffees before clinching victory in the second 45 minutes when new signing Lukas Nmecha scored from the penalty spot after a controversial handball decision was given against Everton’s James Tarkowski. Leeds’ next two Premier League fixtures are tricky ones against Arsenal and Newcastle United, so it was important for them to get some early points on the board and continue their momentum from the Championship.
Black Cats Back!
Back in the Premier League for the first time since the 2016-17 season, Sunderland marked their return with a bang, beating West Ham United 3-0 in front of almost 47,000 fans at a rowdy Stadium of Light at the weekend. Their French manager Régis Le Bris had brought in 11 new signings over the summer to strengthen the squad and only three of the players that started against the Blades in the playoff final were in the starting XI this weekend.
Nevertheless, under newly signed captain Granit Xhaka, the team played as a coherent unit and with games coming up again fellow promoted team Burnley, followed by Brentford and Crystal Palace, Sunderland will feel optimistic that their winning start can continue.
Burnley’s More Challenging return
Burnley were the only one of the newly promoted teams who started their Premier League campaign with an away game. Perhaps the lack of home fans took its toll as they were convincingly beaten 3-0 by a classy looking Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.
Burnley manager Scott Parker was left ruing his side’s lack of “clinicalness” (no, it isn’t actually a word!) and the slow start his side made to the game. However, with matches against Manchester United and Liverpool coming up shortly it’s hard to see where the points will come from unless they manage to beat Sunderland at home on August 23rd. Already that looks like a massive fixture for both clubs.
Which of the Newly Promoted Teams has the Best Chance of Survival?
Although recent history from the past couple of seasons would appear to be against them, Leeds United look to have the best chance of surviving in the Premier League. Promoted as champions, Leeds have made a number of key summer signings to increase their physicality including Anton Stach, Jaka Bijol, Sebastiaan Bornauw and Sean Longstaff.
Perhaps most crucially of all, they have upgraded their goalkeeper by signing Brazilian international Lucas Perri from Lyon, as their erratic French keeper Illan Meslier cost them crucial points in the previous Championship season. Signing Nmecha on a free transfer looks to have been a smart move after he cooly stepped up to convert the penalty in the season opener and adding Dominic Calvert-Lewin from Everton also on a free has helped to strengthen Farke’s strike force.
✍️ 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲, 𝗗𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗰!#LUFC is delighted to announce the signing of Dominic Calvert-Lewin
— Leeds United (@LUFC) August 15, 2025
There’s a long way to go but if the Elland Road crowd can continue to roar their team over the line as they did in the season opener against David Moyes’ side, then Leeds could be the team to end the newly promoted teams’ relegation curse.
Sunderland have spent the most money on transfers of the three newly promoted teams but integrating eleven new signings whilst maintaining squad harmony may prove to be a challenge for club boss Le Bris who is inexperienced at this level. Other than their captain Xhaka, signed from Bayer Leverkusen earlier in the summer, the squad are young and generally lacking in top-flight experience.
Granit Xhaka in red and white 😍 pic.twitter.com/54tu4sqyo6
— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) August 2, 2025
That said, players such as Enzo Le Fée, Habib Diarra and Chelsea loanee striker Marc Guiu have bags of potential so their winning start could hopefully continue. In addition, the raucous 49,000 crowd at the Stadium of Light could be Sunderland’s secret weapon … or alternatively the inexperienced squad could crumble under the pressure of the braying mob if their Championship habit of losing leads and conceding late goals continues into the Premier League!
Of the three newly promoted teams, Burnley have the most recent memories of promotion followed by immediate relegation from the Premier League. Fresh in the minds of their fans is the 2023-24 season when they went up under Vincent Kompany, spent £100 million and then only managed to register 24 points before being swiftly dispatched back down to the Championship.
Although they had the best defensive record in league history last season – conceding only 16 goals in 46 games and keeping 30 clean sheets – they have now sold their keeper James Trafford to Manchester City, let Josh Brownhill leave and lost another key member of their defence in CJ Egan-Riley (to French club Marseille). On the evidence of the first game that could have a serious impact on their defensive solidity. Their 3-0 defeat in their opening game against Tottenham Hotspur highlights this and even the signing of the experienced defender Kyle Walker was not enough to prevent the loss.
In conclusion, if the opening weekend is anything to go by there are reasons to be optimistic that at least one of the newly promoted sides can remain in the Premier League. But which one manages it remains to be seen!