Life as one of the newly promoted clubs in the Premier League can be hard. With a majority of the newcomers going straight back down within the first few seasons. So what chances do Cardiff City, Hull City and Crystal Palace have of avoiding the drop?
With over a quarter of the Premier League season already over; positions in the table have already started to emerge as to what club will finish where.
Crystal Palace
Newly promoted Crystal Palace, lye at the foot of the table in 20th position. It?s a torrid start to the new campaign for the London club and one former manager Ian Holloway ultimately paid the price for.
The side has yet to gain a victory and only managed to pick up four points in their opening eleven fixtures. The Premier League is a ruthless division and teams will be punished if they do not match up to the competition. With defeats like the 4-1 home loss to Fulham, you really have to feel Palace will have a torrid time this season.
Caretaker manager Iain Moody tried to get the best out of his side this weekend as they hosted Everton. Everton didn?t really turn up to the fixture and it was a game that the Eagles really could have stolen something from. The problem seems to lye with the strikers, if Palace cannot find a regular goal scorer, then the team will struggle.
Palace looks as though they need to dip into the transfer market in January. The squad need to find a recognised goal scorer and survival will heavily depend upon this.
Things read much better for Cardiff and Hull fans however. The Bluebirds from Wales have managed to stake a claim away from relegation zone currently in 14th place, whilst Hull have managed even better in their attempts, currently lying in 12th.
Cardiff City
Malky Mackay?s Cardiff have had a great start to the season, picking up a victory at home to Man City and a crucial win in the away fixture to rivals Swansea. They have managed to strengthen the squad with the acquisitions of captain Steven Caulker, Gary Medel and Peter Odemwingie that will help bolster the chances of staying up.
Cardiff?s resolve will really be tested after the international break. They are set to host both Manchester United and Arsenal towards the end of this month, fixtures you cannot see them getting any points from. The lack of points from these games will see them slip lower down the league table and nerves may well creep in regarding relegation.
If Mackay?s men are to avoid this they will have to relay on the experience players like Peter Whittingham and Craig Bellamy.
Hull City
Hull are the pick of the bunch in terms of the new clubs. They have managed to pick up a massive 14 points since the start of the league, and an average of over a point of game will surely help them in there quest for survival.
A 4-1 loss this weekend to Southampton will not show the true reflections of this team. Southampton are a team on the up and a fixture against them proves hard for any team, as Chelsea and Liverpool found out last season.
Hull are simply beating the teams that they need to. With defeats to the hands of Tottenham, Man City and Chelsea, not many would have considered the Tigers to gain any points from these games.
Steve Bruce?s side have picked up victories against Newcastle, Norwich, Sunderland and West Ham. These are the types of teams they need to challenge with in order to accumulate the right amount of points to stay up.
With a few acquisitions in the January transfer market, Hull could look to bolster their squad, which should be enough for them to survive.
Source: DSG
Source: DSG