Overview

• Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland have collected 19 points from their first five matches, the strongest return by promoted sides since 2017-18.
• Sunderland have eight points after five games, becoming the ninth promoted team to reach that mark, with all eight previous cases ultimately staying up.
• Across key metrics the newcomers are sturdier at the back than last season’s cohort, conceding six fewer goals and allowing 31 fewer shots over the same span.
• Sunderland’s summer recruitment under Regis Le Bris, featuring Granit Xhaka’s leadership and Brian Brobbey’s arrival, has underpinned a record of only four goals conceded.
• Jamie Carragher has kept his pre-season prediction that Sunderland will be relegated, even as early struggles for Wolves, West Ham and Brentford create openings for the newcomers.