How Premier League new boys Luton, Burnley and Sheffield United can turn their seasons around after their troubling starts to the campaign
- Luton, Burnley and Sheffield United have all endured difficult starts this season
- Mail Sport takes a look at how they can turn things around and ensure survival
- Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast ‘It’s All Kicking Off!’
The promised land of the Premier League has turned into a nightmare for new boys Sheffield United, Luton and Burnley.
Between them they have a collective two wins out of a combined 24 matches and a total of nine points, making them the worst set of promoted sides in Premier League history at this stage of the season.
Talk of relegation for the promoted trio is everywhere, despite winless Bournemouth providing them company at the bottom of the table.
Only three promoted sides in Premier League history have taken four points or fewer from their opening eight matches and survived relegation: Crystal Palace in 2013-14 (three points in eight games) and Southampton (2012-13) and Nottingham Forest last season, who both survived after taking just four points.
Here, Mail Sport takes a look at what each of the promoted sides need to do to turn things around and survive the drop.
Burnley, Luton and Sheffield United have won just two games between them so far this season
Paul Heckingbottom’s Sheffield United side have picked up one point from their eight games
Luton Town
Out of all the sides to be promoted, Luton were given the smallest chance of surviving the drop, but they currently sit outside of the relegation zone.
Dismissed by almost every football pundit before the season, Rob Edwards’ side suffered four straight defeats at the start of the campaign, before catching many off guard with a draw at home to Wolves and a win at Everton.
But for the Hatters, who were a non-league side as recently as 2013-14, they arguably should have more points on the board.
They dominated Wolves at Kenilworth Road, with 20 shots compared to three. But they only walked away with a 1-1 draw despite the West Midlands side being down to 10 men for more than half the game.
Then they were on for a point against Burnley, before Jacob Bruun Larsen scored an 85th minute equaliser for the Clarets.
Against Tottenham, they suffered a 1-0 loss despite Ange Postecoglou’s side playing with 10 men for the entirety of the second half.
Luton have squandered many opportunities so far this season, including Elijah Adebayo’s agonising miss with the goal gaping against Tottenham – minutes before Spurs’ winner
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If they could take their chances, they could have at least nine points on the board after eight games and would be sitting higher up the bottom half of the table.
Carlton Morris hit the post and had a close-range header saved against Wolves, with a penalty kick for the striker saving their blushes.
Elijah Adebayo missed a gilt-edged chance with the goal gaping just moments before Micky van de Ven’s winner for Tottenham at the weekend. And wasted opportunities against Burnley also cost them dear.
If Luton are to have any hope of surviving they will need to be more clinical in front of goal. If they had taken their chances, they would be sitting pretty compared to their relegation rivals.
They have had the 12th most shots in the league with 102, but are bottom for shots on target with 18. They are also struggling to get on the ball which is evident by the fact they are bottom of the league for passes with 2,455 – over 300 behind the next worst team in Sheffield United with 2,773.
The worry will be where the goals will come from if Morris or Adebayo are failing to hit their stride.
Morris has netted three goals so far, and after scoring 20 last season, much of the pressure will be placed on his shoulders. Adebayo scored 27 goals across his last two seasons in the Championship, but only has one so far this campaign and more will be expected of him.
Luton have the most unique ground in the top-flight, and they need to make Kenilworth Road a fortress if they are to survive.
Luton have conceded fewer goals than the bottom three, but their stability at the back will count for nothing unless they can start adding more goals to their name.
Rob Edwards’ side sit outside the relegation zone but will need to start scoring more of their chances if they are to ensure their safety
Burnley
It might look doom and gloom for Vincent Kompany’s side after their opening eight matches, but perhaps they have a good reason for their poor start this season.
They have already played five of the sides who finished in the top seven at the end of the 2022-23 campaign, as well as Chelsea, who should be higher up given their extreme spending across the three transfer windows.
Burnley picked up a huge win against rivals Luton and a 1-1 draw away at Nottingham Forest.
So it’s their next run of games which will perhaps give a better indication of how the season will go for the Clarets.
Away games with Brentford and Bournemouth are followed by a home clash with Crystal Palace and it’s those sorts of matches that will determine whether they can avoid the drop.
Like Luton, Burnley have netted just six times this season and have not been clinical enough in front of goal.
Interestingly though they are able to keep hold of the ball, and have had the better share of the possession in recent games against Manchester United, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa.
Vincent Kompany has accused his side of poor decision making after their recent loss to Chelsea
While they look slick on the ball, they look wasteful in the final third which will have to be rectified especially in upcoming games against teams who they really need to look to take points off if they are to pull themselves away from the bottom three.
They are in the top 10 for passes in the Premier League with 3,825, ahead of the likes of Aston Villa, Brentford, Crystal Palace and West Ham.
However, they are in the bottom three for shots with 85 (18th), and 23 shots on targets (19th).
Kompany says Burnley have been hurt by poor-decision making while Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville claimed that they need more ‘physicality and strength’.
Some could also point out the similarities to Nottingham Forest who also had four points at this stage of the season last year following their promotion.
While not quite to the extent of Forest, Burnley had a busy summer with 15 new players coming through the door at Turf Moor.
So that’s a lot of players who need time to gel at the club, and Kompany will be hoping that his side start to pick up results once this happens, much like Forest last year.
Burnley have spent big this summer, much like Nottingham Forest last year, and will hope new signings can find their feet quickly and help push them away from the relegation zone
Sheffield United
No side promoted to the Premier League has had a worse start than Sheffield United – including that infamous Derby side of 2007-08 – who managed to take five of their 11 points all season in the opening eight games.
Paul Heckingbottom’s team have not been helped by the summer sales of Iliman Ndiaye and Sander Berge and they have suffered some painful defeats this season.
They could have had an extra four points on the table after coming agonisingly close to securing a point against Man City and all three at Tottenham until conceding late goals in both outings.
Their performances in both games did offer some optimism however, at least until the Newcastle game, which has sent their season spiralling downhill after a crushing 8-0 defeat.
Sheffield United have suffered the worst start to a season for any promoted Premier League side
They were outclassed in defeats to West Ham and Fulham, and the horrific broken leg sustained by captain Chris Basham at Craven Cottage provides even more cause for concern ahead of upcoming games with Man United and Arsenal.
Promotion last season was secured on the back of a solid defence and this is an area which Heckingbottom will somehow have to improve on this season.
For his sake, it appears that is an improvement that will need to be made quickly, with talks of a potential return for Sheffield United favourite Chris Wilder in the dugout.
Heckingbottom conceded after the loss to Newcastle that many of their new players need time to adapt to the Premier League and their new surroundings.
He said: ‘We can’t expect them to be coming in and dominating vocally. They’ve got to get their feet under the table and adapt and to do that you tend to have to be performing well enough on the pitch.
‘That will only come with performances or the time they’re at this club. There are still a lot of experienced players here who know the standards and the level of this league, who we need to step up and make sure they take on the extra responsibility if you like.’
The Blades took just two points from their opening eight games in 2020-21 and unless they can turn things around quickly, then their season will be heading in the same way towards the Championship.
Chris Basham suffered a broken leg against Fulham in another blow for the Blades this season
IT’S ALL KICKING OFF!
It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football, launching with a preview show today and every week this season.
It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube , Apple Music and Spotify
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