Premier League new boys open up relegation race

We are only early in the Premier League season, yet some pundits were already writing off new boys Swansea and Norwich before yesterdays games.

Yesterday they answered their critics with their first wins of the season. To be fair to the pair they hadn’t made terrible starts to their seasons.

Goals

Swansea’s problem so far has been finding the net. They have looked decent in defence and haven’t conceded a major amount of goals. Their only hammering coming at Manchester City. They were even unlucky not to get a draw at Arsenal.

They hadn’t found the net though and that must have been a concern for their boss Brendan Rodgers. However he stated that they just needed one to go in and that would lead to more coming. Well he was right as Swansea fired three past West Brom with no reply.

Decent

Norwich have put in some really decent displays this seasons but haven’t got their rewards for their play. The nature of the Premier League has meant that they have been punished for nearly every single mistake they have made.

The Canaries have looked slightly naïve at times and now conceded five penalties in as many Premier League games. They did concede a penalty at Bolton but also managed to come away with a 2-1 victory at the Reebok Stadium.

QPR

The other new boys QPR have given themselves a massive chance of survival with some superb signings. I couldn’t see Neil Warnock’s side surviving before the season kicked-off.

However signing the likes of Joey Barton, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Anton Ferdinand amongst others has given them a whole new look. By all accounts the Hoops were superb in their 3-0 victory at Wolves.

Relief

Another side who gained their first Premier League yesterday were Blackburn Rovers, who defeated Arsenal 4-3 at Ewood Park. New signing Yakubu scored a brace on his debut and looks to be a good signing.

One of the encouraging things for Rovers boss Steve Kean must have been the belief that his side shown. They never gave up and everybody at the club must be mightily relieved to have gained their first Premier league victory of the season.

Open

The race to stay in the Premier League really is very open this season. The likes of Fulham, Bolton and West Brom will also be in the mix this season. Wolves started well but have lost consecutive home games and will probably be concerned about being down there.

Worried

It seems though that the most worried fans in the country at the moment seem to be Sunderland fans. They have taken just two points from their opening four games of the season. Another worrying factor for Sunderland is the fact that they have lost striker Asamoah Gyan to Middle East side Al-Ain.

The lack of strikers could be a really big factor in whether the club survive in the Premier League. Black Cats boss Steve Bruce has admitted he has the money to bring in a new striker but with the transfer window now shut he will have to wait till January.

However the topsy turvy nature of the Premier League means a win at home to Stoke later today would change the complexion of the Black Cats season. Football’s a funny old game as former-England striker Jimmy Greaves used to say and things change very quickly.

One minute your condemned as no-hopers and the next minute you win a few games and you can be eyeing a European place.

Impossible

I wouldn’t even like to guess who will be relegated in May. There is always one team that is a surprise struggler and ends up getting relegated. There is truly no poor teams in this seasons Premier League and no team is going to go down without fighting.

Who will be relegated from the Premier League this season?