Promoted Premier League trio keen to avoid fate of immediate predecessors

Leeds United, Burnley and Sunderland all return to the Premier League this season with the primary objective of avoiding the fate that has befallen their immediate predecessors.

For two successive seasons, the trio of promoted clubs have found the top flight a treacherous transition and failed to survive, tumbling straight back down to the Championship.

Their performance last season offered evidence of a growing gap between the Premier League and second-tier as Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton were all relegated weeks before the end of the campaign.

Saints narrowly avoided the ignominy of a record low total of points in a Premier League season.

At the end of the 2023-24 season, it was Luton Town, Burnley and Sheffield United who were relegated after a single season in the top flight.

Burnley have returned in haste, however, finishing second behind Leeds United last season as they conceded a Championship record-low 16 goals.

For the first time, two teams reached 100 points in the same Championship campaign, with Leeds' superior goal difference proving decisive.

This would hold out hope that both teams have sufficient quality and depth to stay out of relegation trouble.

"We're coming off a season where we achieved something which was unprecedented,” said Burnley coach Scott Parker when he previewed the new season’s prospects last month.

"What we did last year was nothing short of remarkable.

"We'll go and face this challenge this (term) with full commitment, desire and a real excitement about it, like we did last year. There are different dynamics but it's one where we're hoping to go in there and be ourselves and try to be successful."

TOP-FLIGHT PERILS

Leeds' German coach Daniel Farke has plenty of experience of the