Hull City went to Stamford Bridge and left with a point, a 2-2 draw that has rendered every pre-season prediction about their demise look foolish. Four games into the Premier League season, the Tigers are unbeaten, a start that has already proven wrong the forecasts that they would challenge Derby County's record-low points tally of 11. That survival mark, long held as the benchmark for top-flight failure, now looks distant, and the conversation around Hull has shifted from whether they can stay up to how high they can climb in the historical record books.
Ipswich are doing their part too. The Tractor Boys have already matched half the number of wins they managed across their entire previous Premier League campaign, a sign of how much has changed since their last top-flight stint. Together with Hull, and despite Coventry's stuttering start, the promoted trio have turned the early weeks of the season into a case study in how to adapt to the division.
The numbers are striking. After the first four matchdays, the three promoted clubs have collected 14 points between them, with Coventry holding a game in hand. That puts this crop on track to challenge the best collective starts in Premier League history. The record stands at 25 points, set by Ipswich, Middlesbrough and Blackburn in the inaugural 1992-93 season. The next best is 21, achieved by two separate groups: the Newcastle, Brighton and Huddersfield trio of 2017-18, and the Newcastle, West Brom and Blackpool set of 2010-11.
The 2001-02 group of Fulham, Blackburn and Bolton reached 20. Last season's promoted sides, Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland, managed 19, a figure shared with the 1998-99 crop of Nottingham Forest, Middlesbrough and Charlton. To put the current start in context, the promoted sides need just five points across their next four combined fixtures to match that 19-point mark and sit fifth on the all-time list.
That target is well within reach. Ipswich travel to the Hill Dickinson Stadium to face Everton next, while Hull head to Newcastle. Coventry, still searching for their first goal of the season after three defeats, host Brighton on Sunday before welcoming Aston Villa, a side that has scored just once in the league so far. If at least one of those games produces a win, the trio would be in strong position to surpass the 19-point threshold.
The theoretical ceiling is higher. Should Coventry win both their games in hand and Ipswich and Hull take maximum points from their upcoming fixtures, the trio could reach 26 points, a total that would break the record set over three decades ago. That scenario seems unlikely, particularly given Coventry's goalless start, but breaking into the top five is not unimaginable.
The early form carries real weight beyond the numbers. History suggests that a strong start from a promoted side is a reliable indicator of survival. Only in the 1998-99 season did fewer than two of the three promoted teams end up relegated. For Ipswich and Hull in particular, that record offers comfort. Both clubs have shown enough in the opening weeks to suggest they are not merely riding a wave of early-season momentum but have the structure and organisation to sustain it.
Hull's draw at Chelsea was not a smash-and-grab. They went toe-to-toe with one of the division's strongest squads and emerged with a result that has forced a recalibration of expectations across the league. Ipswich, meanwhile, have demonstrated a clinical edge that was absent in their previous top-flight campaign, turning chances into points with a consistency that bodes well for the months ahead.
Coventry remain the outlier. Three defeats without a single goal is a concerning start, and their upcoming fixtures against Brighton and Aston Villa will test whether they can arrest the slide. The gap between their performances and those of their fellow promoted sides is significant, and it is the reason the trio's combined total is not even higher.
As it stands, the promoted sides are on 14 points from their first four matches. The record is 25. The gap is real but not insurmountable, and with Ipswich and Hull both showing they belong at this level, the possibility of this crop joining the best in Premier League history is very much alive. The next round of fixtures will determine whether they take the next step toward that mark or settle for a solid start that fades into the ordinary.
According to Planet Football.