Played 16, won 0, drawn 3, lost 13. Goals for: 12. Goals against: 41. The Premier League is often described as the promised land. For three new arrivals – one via non-league a decade earlier, two effecting swift returns – the guarantee instead seems to be disappointment; at times embarrassment.
The bare facts are that Burnley, Sheffield United and Luton Town accumulated 78 victories in the Championship between them last season. With each away from home on Saturday, they may head into October with none in the top flight between them, perhaps still with just one point apiece. And if there is a very real chance that one gets a maiden triumph next month, it is because Luton host Burnley on Tuesday; it is a game that was postponed in August because Kenilworth Road was not ready, but both may wish it had been switched then to Turf Moor because it could have given the victor some momentum. Instead, neither has any.
