It is early days for Premier League clubs to be unduly concerned by their starts to the 2024-25 season, but there is no doubt this has been a difficult first five games for those down the bottom of the table.
This is the first time in top-flight history there have been six teams who have not won a game between them after playing their first five matches.
To compare to last season, the bottom three after five games in 2023-24 (Luton Town, Burnley and Sheffield United, who ended up being the three sides who were relegated) had accumulated one point each, the same as their counterparts Southampton, Everton and Wolverhampton Wanderers have managed in this one.
With the caveat that there is a long way to go, we look at the current bottom six and ask how concerned they should be by their starts to the new season.
|
Pos
|
Team
|
MP
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GD
|
Pts
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
15th
|
 Leicester City |
5
|
0
|
3
|
2
|
-2
|
3
|
|
16th
|
 Crystal Palace |
5
|
0
|
3
|
2
|
-3
|
3
|
|
17th
|
 Ipswich Town |
5
|
0
|
3
|
2
|
-5
|
3
|
|
18th
|
 Southampton |
5
|
0
|
1
|
4
|
-7
|
1
|
|
19th
|
 Everton |
5
|
0
|
1
|
4
|
-9
|
1
|
|
20th
|
 Wolverhampton Wanderers |
5
|
0
|
1
|
4
|
-9
|
1
|
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15th: Leicester City, three points
Leicester were under no illusions that this season would be a difficult one for them, especially after losing manager Enzo Maresca in the summer to Chelsea and the transition to successor Steve Cooper. There have been plenty of changes to the squad too and the team are struggling to gel.
The start they have had has not matched the expectations of some supporters, who have started to vent their frustration at not just the results, but the performances, and even Cooper’s selections and tactics. It got particularly ugly during the second half of the Carabao Cup tie against League Two side Walsall on Tuesday, with Leicester only going through on penalties after a goalless draw, when fans chanted that they were embarrassed by their team’s display.
With the number of changes to their Championship title-winning line-up, and some frustrations during the transfer window, it is taking Leicester time to settle into a cohesive unit and while they have been in all five games — their two defeats have both been by a single goal — they also haven’t had the attacking quality to see out tight games either.
There have been halves of games where they have looked good, like the second half against Tottenham Hotspur and the first half away to Crystal Palace, but there hasn’t been a complete 90-minute performance and the pressure is building on Cooper.
Rob Tanner
16th: Crystal Palace, three points
Palace have begun the season slowly but have not yet found themselves on the end of a comprehensive defeat. It may feel alarming and concerning because of the lack of intensity and rhythm but expectations are higher because of their six wins from the final seven games last season. With such a major overhaul in the summer, and eight of their current squad spending time away on international duty, a sticky start is understandable.
Manager Oliver Glasner saw an improved performance in the second half of Saturday’s goalless draw at home against Manchester United and that is reason to be optimistic, as is the fact they are five unbeaten in all competitions including Carabao Cup wins over Championship sides Norwich City and Queens Park Rangers.
Palace are yet to score first in a league game, but once they do maybe that will be the catalyst they need to kick on.
It is not panic-stations yet, but defeat away to second-bottom Everton on Saturday would sour the mood significantly. Winning at Goodison Park, on the other hand, would be a huge relief.
Matt Woosnam
17th: Ipswich Town, three points
The phrase “baptism of fire” sprang to mind when promoted Ipswich’s fixture list dropped back in June. Losses to Liverpool and Manchester City in the first two matches were expected and there are few complaints with their points tally. Seventeenth, one place above the relegation zone, after five games? Stop the count.
There were positives from the draws against Fulham and Brighton, and while Ipswich have to start beating the clubs around them at the foot of the table to stay up, Saturday’s point at Southampton arguably came in a better display than in April’s dramatic 3-2 victory over them.
The team doesn’t look as fluid as last season but a degree of patience is needed. Ipswich spent over £100million on 10 signings to change a squad largely assembled when they were in League One, English football’s third tier, into one able to compete in the Premier League.
The concerns are whether Ipswich will score enough goals, and where the wins will come from. It’s down to how quickly the squad can settle, and if Championship matchwinners Jack Clarke, Omari Hutchinson and Sammie Szmodics can step up at this higher level.
Ali Rampling
18th: Southampton, one point
Most Southampton fans will not be shocked by their start to the season, even if the points tally is disappointing. Playing manager Russell Martin’s style of football in the Premier League requires adjustment and carries a degree of risk.
The concern — and there should be a reasonable degree of it at St Mary’s five matches in — is if Southampton continue to make the same mistakes. Martin’s commitment to playing out from the back with a possession-based game is admirable and his logic of sticking to something that worked last season is sound enough. But if that first win of the season does not come soon, expect more calls for a change in tactics.
Southampton have lots of talented players — with 18-year-old Tyler Dibling starring at the weekend — and it feels a healthier environment than in their relegation season two years ago.
Current status: still holding onto early-season optimism but with a dash of concern.
Nancy Froston
19th: Everton, one point
Any side who are still winless after their first five games should probably be worried. With Everton, it is the nature of some of their four early defeats that has prompted most concern.
They have conceded 14 goals, the joint-most with Wolves, the only side below them in the table, and were soundly beaten by both Brighton (3-0) and Tottenham (4-0). They have been ahead in each of their three games since, only to surrender those leads and take just a solitary point from the nine available. That fragility at the back is concerning, particularly given manager Sean Dyche’s reputation for creating defensively-stable sides.
It has obviously been a turbulent start but there are some crumbs of comfort: centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite’s imminent return after the summer groin surgery that has kept him out of every match so far will be a huge boost, while new signings Iliman Ndiaye and Jesper Lindstrom are starting to impress.
The next run of fixtures look more favourable on paper, but Everton have to start picking up points ahead of a daunting December run where they face Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City in successive league games.
Patrick Boyland
20th: Wolves, one point
At the risk of dodging the question, it’s difficult to say for sure how worried Wolves fans should be after five matches.
There are mitigating factors that help explain the situation their club find themselves in and that offer some hope they are far from doomed.
Wolves have the joint-lowest points but had the toughest opening set of fixtures of all 20 teams, based on Opta’s Power Rankings. They have let in the joint-most goals (14) but are not being opened up in games (other than the second half of the 6-2 defeat against Chelsea). Several opposition goals have come from long range, and their expected goals against figure — the number of goals they would typically be expected to concede from the chances they have conceded — is just 7.2.
But there is an obvious danger that, by the time they hit a run of more inviting fixtures in November and December, confidence will be so badly damaged that they will find it difficult to turn the tide.
Much will depend on how well head coach Gary O’Neil and his senior players can manage the mood in the camp.
Steve Madeley
(Top photos: Getty Images)
