Four matches, zero points, zero goals
Coventry came back up to the Premier League this summer. It had been 25 years since their last top-flight outing, and they arrived as Championship champions. So far, it has been a nightmare. Four games, four defeats, no points, no goals.
The Sky Blues are the eighth promoted side to lose their first four Premier League matches. Of the seven before them, only one avoided the drop: Southampton in 2012-13.
Widen the lens to every team, promoted or not, and the picture looks a little less bleak. Eighteen sides had gone through the same start before Coventry. Eight survived, the latest being Everton in 2024-25.
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A fixture list that has not exactly been kind
Frank Lampard can point to the schedule. Two of those four matches came away at Arsenal and Manchester City, the two best teams in the division. Coventry also stood up to the Citizens and probably deserved more.
The other two results raise bigger questions. A 1-0 home defeat to Hull City, the other promoted club. Then a 5-0 pasting from Brighton at the Coventry Building Society Arena last Sunday.
Taiwo Awoniyi’s red card in the second half did not help. The Sky Blues were already 2-0 down by then. Lewis Dunk even picked out the top corner from 30 yards.
Palace 2017-18 offers a sliver of hope
One case looks a lot like Coventry’s. Crystal Palace in 2017-18. Under Frank de Boer, the Eagles failed to score or pick up a single point in their first five league games. The Dutchman was gone, Roy Hodgson took over, and the run stretched to seven matches in all. Palace finished 11th.
The other examples are less reassuring. Portsmouth picked up nothing from their first seven league games in 2009-10 and finished bottom with 19 points. Norwich lost their first six in 2021-22 before going down. Three clubs have also gone through their opening five matches without a point: Southampton in 1998-99, Sunderland in 2005-06 and Wolves last season. Only Southampton escaped, finishing 17th.
Coventry travel to Nottingham Forest this weekend. There are still 34 games left.
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