Ipswich Town have zero wins and five points after their opening 10 Premier League games. Stuart Watson looks at what history tells us.
SAMPLE SIZE
The top-flight of English football was rebranded as the Premier League in 1993. Yes, I know football existed before then, but let’s use that as a handy cut-off point for the purposes of some modern statistics that still have a decent sample size.
WINLESS AFTER 10
Ten games into the 2024/25 season and two teams - Ipswich and Wolves - remain winless.
Had Southampton not beaten Everton 1-0 last weekend, it would have been the first time in Premier League history that three teams had got to this stage without winning.
Just twice before have two teams been winless after 10: Newcastle and Norwich (21/22) and Newcastle and Huddersfield (18/19). On both occasions, the Magpies beat the drop.
Over the course of the previous 32 Premier League seasons, seven newly-promoted teams have been winless after 10 games. All went on to be relegated.
In total, 18 teams have been without a without a win after 10 matches. Thirteen of them went on to be relegated (x8 finished bottom, x4 second bottom, x1 third bottom), but five of them survived...
NEWCASTLE UNITED (2021/22)
Newcastle came into their new Saudi Arabian money going into the post-Covid 2021/22 season and splashed out on England international Kieran Trippier that summer. They got off to a nightmare start though.
Steve Bruce left by ‘mutual consent’ eight games in, Graeme Jones took interim charge before Eddie Howe was appointed in early November. The North East giants went 14 league games without a win in total (D7 L7) before beating Burnley 1-0 at St James’ Park. Five more games without a victory followed. They had just 12 points on the board after 20 games.
The big money January additions of Bruno Guimarães, Dan Burn and Chris Wood helped turn the tide. Callum Wilson top-scored with eight goals. Home form proved key. Newcastle ultimately finished 11th with 49 points.
NEWCASTLE UNITED (2018/19)
Having steamrolled the Championship to quickly bounce back from relegation in 2016/17, Newcastle were looking to build on a 10th place finish going into the 18/19 campaign. Things got off to a bad start under Rafa Benitez though.
There were just three points on the board after 10 games, but none of the defeats had been heavy. After a 0-0 draw at Southampton, Benitez declared he couldn’t complain about his team’s work rate and spirit. A run of three straight wins, against Watford, Bournemouth and Burnley, followed.
After some more patchy form, the Magpies went out and spent £21m on Miguel Almirón on January transfer deadline day. They won six of their last 12 games to finish 13th.
DERBY COUNTY (2000/01)
You’re then going right back to the early 00s and late 90s for the next examples of teams who beat the drop after failing to win any of their opening 10 Premier League games.
The 2000/01 season was Derby’s fifth successive campaign in the top-flight. The first league win didn’t occur until game 14 (D7 L6). A 1-0 victory at Portman Road followed a couple of weeks later (this was the season newly-promoted Town finished fifth).
Jim Smith’s men secured survival on the penultimate weekend of the season thanks to a 1-0 win at already crowned champions Manchester United being coupled by Ipswich beating Man City (who went down).
Malcolm Christie top-scored (eight in the league) for a Rams side that won 10 league games all season and finished on 42 points. Eight of those wins came at home.
BLACKBURN ROVERS (1996/97)
A year on from winning the Premier League title, Blackburn sold talismanic striker Alan Shearer to Newcastle for a world record fee of £15m.
The Lancashire club subsequently went 11 games without a league win at the start of the season (D4 L7). Ray Harford was sacked towards the end of that run, with new boss Tony Parkes soon overseeing a 3-0 home victory against Liverpool.
A squad that still contained title winners like Tim Flowers, Colin Hendry, Graeme Le Saux, Tim Sherwood, Jason Wilcox and Chris Sutton went on to finish 13th. Eight of their nine league wins came at Ewood Park.
EVERTON (1994/95)
Everton dramatically beat the drop on the final day of the 1993/94 season, coming from 2-0 down to beat Wimbledon 3-2. They started the following campaign by failing to win any of their opening 12 Premier League games (D4 L8).
Mike Walker was sacked in early November and replaced by club legend Joe Royle. He oversaw an instant upturn in results, including a derby win against Liverpool.
League survival wasn’t guaranteed until a 1–0 win at already relegated Ipswich in the penultimate game. An FA Cup Final triumph against Manchester United followed at Wembley later that month.
FIVE POINTS AFTER 10 GAMES
Perhaps of bigger interest to Town fans right now is how teams who have had five points or fewer at this stage of the campaign went on to fare. This stat, I’m pleased to tell you, is more positive.
In total, 38 teams have been in this predicament in the past and 15 of them – more than a third – went on to survive.
On top of the five teams already outlined above, there was:
Nottingham Forest - 5pts after 10 in 22/23, finished 16th.
Crystal Palace - 4pts after 10 in 17/18, finished 11th.
Swansea - 5pts after 10 in 16/17, finished 15th.
Sunderland - 4pts after 10 in 13/14, finished 14th.
Crystal Palace - 3pts after 10 in 13/14, finished 11th.
Southampton - 4pts after 10 in 12/13, finished 14th.
Wigan - 5pts after 10 in 11/12, finished 15th.
Bolton - 5pts after 10 in 07/08, finished 16th.
Southampton - 5pts after 10 in 98/99, finished 17th.
Southampton - 4pts after 10 in 93/94, finished 18th in 22 team division.
Three of the above were newly-promoted sides...
NOTTINGHAM FOREST (2022/23)
A fallen giant back in the Premier League following a 22-year absence. Sound familiar?
Steve Cooper splashed out a whopping £165m to sign 23 players in preparation for the step up, the likes of Jesse Lingard and Morgan Gibbs-White among those to arrive at the City Ground.
The East Midlands club beat West Ham 1-0 in their first home game of that campaign, but soon went on a five-game losing streak as a new-look team found its feet.
Seven more new signings arrived in January. The writing looked on the wall after an 11-game winless run between February and April.
Forest won their last three home games though, with the final one of those – 1-0 against Arsenal on the penultimate day – securing survival. In total, eight of their nine league wins came at the City Ground.
Last season, Forest avoided relegation with 32 points (including a 4-point deduction) - a record low for a team to do so. They currently sit third in the early 24/25 standings.
CRYSTAL PALACE (2013/14)
A Play-Off Final win had the Eagles back in the big time for the first time in eight years. The club subsequently smashed its record transfer fee to sign striker Dwight Gayle from Peterborough.
Ian Holloway was sacked after his side lost seven of their opening eight Premier League games and things didn’t pick up under caretaker Keith Millen. The South London side found themselves with four points after 11 games (W1 D1 L9).
Results improved once Tony Pulis was appointed in late November. A five-game winning streak in March-April helped lift the team to a comfortable 11th place finish.
The South London club have remained in the top-flight ever since.
SOUTHAMPTON (2012/13)
Nigel Adkins had led a side including the likes of Adam Lallana, Morgan Schneiderlin and Rickie Lambert to back-to-back promotions.
In preparation for their first Premier League season in seven years, Southampton broke the club's transfer fee record twice with the acquisitions of Jay Rodriguez and Gastón Ramírez.
A difficult set of opening fixtures included games against Man City, Man United and Arsenal. After 11 games, just five points had been accrued.
After Christmas, the Saints went on a six-game unbeaten run that included five draws, but Adkins was sacked in January with his side sitting 15th. Replacement Mauricio Pochettino subsequently oversaw home wins against Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea and survival was secured with a game to spare.
It proved the start of an 11 year stay in the Premier League.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here