This year, several players whose teams have just been promoted, such as Watford’s Troy Deeney and Bournemouth’s Matt Ritchie, have emerged as interesting Fantasy Football prospects.
But do they start well, fuelled by the enthusiasm of playing in the Premier League, or are they rabbits caught in the headlights, blinded by the skills of the top flight’s bright stars?
To answer this question, I have looked at how many points each promoted team won during the first five Gameweeks of the last five seasons, and compared it the the number of points they won throughout the rest of the season. By going back to 2010, I have a big enough sample size (75 games) to be reasonably confident in whatever conclusions I draw.
History
2010-2011
• Newcastle : LWDLW – 7 points. Total for the season : 46 points
• West Brom : LWLDW – 7 points. Total for the season : 47 points
• Blackpool : WLDWL – 7 points. Total for the season : 39 points
2011-2012
• QPR : LWLDW – 7 points. Total for the season : 37 points
• Norwich : DDLLW – 5 points. Total for the season: 47 points
• Swansea : LDDLW – 5 points. Total for the season : 47 points
2012-2013
• Reading : DLLLD – 2 points. Total for the season: 28 points
• Southampton : LLLLW – 3 points. Total for the season: 41 points
• West Ham : WLWDD – 8 points. Total for the season: 46 points
2013-2014
• Cardiff : LWDDL – 5 points. Total for the season : 30 points
• Hull City : LWLDW – 7 points. Total for the season: 37 points
• Crystal Palace : LLWLL – 3 points. Total for the season: 45 points
2014-2015
• Leicester City : DLDWW – 8 points. Total for the season: 41 points
• Burnley : LLDDD – 3 points. Total for the season: 33 points
• QPR : LLWLD – 4 points, 3 goals. Total for the season : 30 points
Total
• Opening 5 games (75 games) : 80 points – PPG : 1.07
• Rest of season (495 games) : 515 points – PPG : 1.04
Conclusion
It seems there is no noticeable difference between how promoted teams start the season, and how they perform throughout the rest of the season.
