The Gap Between The Premier League & The Championship

It would be fair to say that Sheffield United, Luton Town, and Burnley have endured a tough start to life in the Premier League this season, and all three are currently in the relegation zone with just one point each.
That has inevitably prompted questions about the size of the gap between the Premier League and the Sky Bet Championship, with all three having been promoted last season, and whether it is the biggest it has ever been.
So in this video, HITC Sevens dives deep into the subject, taking a look at those three specifically, what the data suggests, and both why the gap does seem to growing and why it matters.
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[@lukelikesturtles]

Hearing Chelsea referred to as "relegation candidates" brings a smile to my face

[@mxsthxted]

Come back to this comment in a few months and they will be relegated 😂🎉

[@PessiEibarman]

How Todd Boehly change Chelsea from premier league team into championship team 🤣🤣

[@galgadot0392]

Spending over 1 billion and getting worse 💯💯🔥🔥

[@QuietManUK]

them and Everton.

[@georgef822]

I think the fact that these teams are worse might just about save them.

[@venice.mp4]

as a leicester fan i think for this season and this season only parachute payments are completely fine and there’s nothing flawed about the system at all

[@magicjack4076]

As a fellow Leicester fan I completely agree.

[@joso7228]

Parachute Payments are necessary as Teams offload their expensive Premier Players. Note - players will refuse to sign a Contract that gives them a severe Pay Cut if Relegated.

[@MrSkiller703]

don't them only last 3seasons? that to help pay for wages since they would have lot of epl players? after 3 years u should clean ya wage bill up as u know u not going back up?@@magicjack4076

[@lenin17301560]

😂

[@alexz.8302]

​@joso7228 Very odd. Should be mandatory for a player to take a pay cut considering regulation does not come as a surprise. It's a very transparent consequence for not succeeding.

[@Rojo84]

The description of Burnley's approaches last season and this reminds me pretty strongly of my own side, Norwich. We were twice promoted off the back of campaigns where we succeeded by knowing we could probably score more than we conceeded, then got found out in the Prem where we couldn't regularly outscore teams.

[@bfcclarets4694]

You weren’t outplaying man united like we were tho, we’ve just had a tough run of games still very confident we’ll stay up

[@Rojo84]

@@bfcclarets4694 Yeah fair, I appreciate it's early in the season but I think Alfie's comments were accurate for the first few games.

[@Rojo84]

@@bfcclarets4694 Plus we did beat Man City that one time. 😂

[@MediaRedia]

​@@bfcclarets4694 You haven't outplayed anyone. Deluded, mate. And I'm hoping you do well.

[@Colin-wx7kz]

The three teams who went down are all better than these teams.

[@georgef822]

It was a poor Championship last season. People got carried away with Burnley because of the way Kompany set up to play and how they ran away with the title but he's shown he's lacking tactically in the Premier League. And people only wanted Luton promoted because of the underdog mentality and because of how unusual their stadium is.

[@theportugueselegend]

Totally, because Luton is as far of Premier League standards as it can be. Middlesbrough or Sunderland could have done a better job

[@killer2434]

What does what people want have to do with Luton earning a promotion to the PL? 🤔

[@joso7228]

Give Company a chance - he will adapt.

[@franohmsford7548]

Since winning League One in 2019 Luton have finished 19th, 12th, 6th and 3rd in the Championship. They've got better and better every season and given the issues at Wolves, Everton, Burnley and Bournemouth I would not be surprised to see Luton survive. Sheffield United are going down but any 2 of 5 clubs could join them.

[@Billiamwoods]

​@@joso7228How do you misspell Kompany's name when it's literally in the comment you're responding to lol

[@chris_bfc_9071]

every club we (Burnley) have lost to this season are either in a European Competition or in the top 4, the team we drew against was away at Nottingham Forest, which on another day the goal could've easily stood and we'd have won, it's not the games against Man City or Spurs that'll define our season, it's games against the bottom half

[@nethanlock5008]

I still think Burnley will stay up. Wolves are Everton are still in massive trouble imo

[@m4rkscott]

Totally agree with you but the games against other relegation candidates are like cup finals in the second half of the season, The easier games seem to be against the mid table sides at tge end of the season who aren't playing for anything

[@2723cadd]

Burnley play some beautiful football too, absolutely played United off the park the other day, just unfortunate in moments and that will change in due time.

[@tago69mago671]

Think Burnley will be ok tbh mate. Luton and Sheff U looking bad but newly promoted teams seem to go on a run of losses and it becomes a habit with loss of confidence. Must be demoralising when you have to play out of your skins just to keep the losing scoreline down! Good luck from a Spurs fan.

[@BigSmokeMUFC]

​​@@2723cadd and guess what? Burnley still lost. Football isn't won by who played the other off the park. So cry about it.

[@Alfie_1]

Quick comparison, Burnley spent over 100 million this season, whereas in France, Le Havre and Metz won promotion, and spent 2.4 million and, I believe, 400,000 euros respectively.

[@philicon353]

English league and French league are different.

[@Alfie_1]

@@philicon353 Yeah, but I think numbers like that best demonstrate quite how different they are

[@maciejbala477]

@@Alfie_1 yep. Completely different mentality and financial capabilities. Also because the Prem is so much more lucrative, you see teams throwing the kitchen sink at it to stay up. But even then, Luton have also spent significantly more and they just did reasonable business and don't expect to stay up. Championship teams often spend more than the French clubs you mentioned

[@bfcmik]

Those French club spends you mention were NETT spend - real spend was much higher but sales to English clubs make it look like they spent hardly anything. Besides which, the English Championship is the 5th richest and watched league in Europe. Football in England means a lot. Wages are way higher in England too

[@Alfie_1]

Nope, it wasn't net spend, that was what they spent on players.@@bfcmik

[@gavinstone9983]

Been watching Alfie since 2017 at this point as a little 14 year old, and 6 years on at 20, HITC Sevens is one of the only KZbin channels that has stood the test of time in my recommended feed. Thanks Alfie for always giving some of the best football opinions and journalism on all of KZbin. Keep doing what you’re doing bro!

[@roboticaljohn8299]

Big relate. Growing up with big Alf 🥲

[@5uper5kill3rz]

Shame he goes up at the end of every sentence and doesn’t talk like a normal human being

[@SuperMickyChow]

I'm a Luton fan and the Prem has honestly been an eye opener for me. I always knew there was a huge gap in class and quality between the two divisions, but it does feel enormous this season. As a side, we have improved, game on game and (ignoring last nights disaster in the Carabao Cup) are looking better every time we take to the pitch. We do, however, lack a proven Premier league striker which is definitely our weak point atm & our lack of goals from open play shows this to be the case. I can't see us surviving this season without that proven striker. I honestly don't believe that survival is our goal. We have a massive project in building a new stadium that is currently the board's priority, and we want to build it with as little debt as possible so we dont end up like Everton. Club sustainability comes before all else at Luton - hence our rigid wage structure and offering Barkley only a one year deal. Our recruitment, with this in mind, has been spot on - i dont believe any club has won promotion from the Championship with such a small budget and with so low a spend on transfers. We will happily take the ride this season, take the parachute payments, and spend within our means to aim at future Premier league promotions for years to come. The last ten years of our incredible rise from non-league has already shown that this is the correct approach for us.

[@papalegba6796]

Really that's the only sensible path to take. Hope the fans understand & don't get on the team's back about it.

[@SuperMickyChow]

@papalegba6796 they mostly are. Obviously there's always those who are never happy & the loss against Exeter gave them even more reason to complain, but we don't need the distraction of cup runs right now imo

[@coyh1493]

Very well said, I would add, it’s easy to ignore morons like Garth Crooks, who like the other so called experts, haven’t got a clue about our club, it’s recent historic ownership of reckless spending, and our fan based management, who have the slow, steady growth, living within our means strategy. The result is that this crazy money will be spent wisely, invested in our infrastructure, not on some badge kissing journeyman, and we will become a stable Premiership club in the future. It will probably take a few more years, but with us , you never know 🤷‍♂️🧡🧡🎩🎩

[@josephmccalla-bennett3550]

The long term good of the club must come before the needs of today using the Epl jackpot to finance the building of a new stadium is a brainer

[@joshuaburkinshaw9940]

What I'd like to see Luton do is play like Leeds did under Bielsa. I think we'd all agree that Bamford wasn't a proven striker either? If you are likely to lose to big teams, what's the sense in sitting back and waiting for them to pick you apart when you can take the fight to them? A game is only worth 3 points, you don't get any points for keeping it to a 1-nil loss.

[@james2529]

As a Southampton fan, 8-0 doesn't seem so bad.

[@luuduonghy659]

It just cost them 3 point.

[@CouldBeSaladFingers]

Unfair to Burnley. 4 of their 5 fixtures were City, United, Spurs and Villa???

[@ezraezra2928]

Chelsea's 9 upcoming fixtures are so mad. Except Burnley, all Chelsea's opponents were finished above them (Top 10 because Fulham was included). 5 of them played in Europe this season (Arsenal, Brighton, Newcastle, 2 Manchester clubs).

[@maciejbala477]

he literally said at the end that they had tough fixtures...

[@cmonman1407]

Chelseas masterplan is to get relegated to escape FFP

[@RyuzakiTaiyou]

Best German players in the premier league of all time. (Day 552) I will not give up until the video is made or Alfie himself tells me to stop. Everyone else telling me that will be ignored. If you don't believe my number, just go back to the previous videos. I'm at the bottom most of the time, but I'm there.

[@drunkenhobo8020]

Ballack, Ozil, Lehman, there's probably some others. There, video done.

[@loolewis8212]

Sergio Peter

[@Eric_Hunt194]

Schindler, Schindler, Schindler, Schindler, Schindler, Schindler and Schindler. 😉⚪🔵⚪🔵⚪🔵⚪🔵

[@ARISTICO]

Chelsea being called "relegation candidates" is so surreal its funny lmfao

[@joso7228]

Yeah and it was last time they went down too

[@chriswoodtoarsenal]

I think burnley especially have had very tough fixtures. Luton and Sheff U looks odds on for relegation but when you take into account burnleys fixtures and you analyse their actual performances i think theyll be fine. I also think it didnt help that the 3 relegated sides last seson were probably the 3 best relegated sides for a long time. I don't think the gap is that big.

[@QuietManUK]

Burnley deserve survival, but deserving and achieving are different things.

[@ronanfitzpatrick1261]

They play well, but I'm not sure they'll get enough goals to win enough matches this season. One or two signings in Jan could complete the jigsaw though, or maybe I'm being premature.

[@lexman7179]

Yeah, Burnley's results don't look that bad. I mean who doesn't lose 3-0 to City and only losing by 1 against Man Utd isn't bad. They could easily beat Sheffield, Luton and Bournemouth to put enough points together to stay up.

[@archaicrapture]

Burnley had awful fixtures

[@m4rkscott]

Yes but it is arguable that at lest 2 of the 3 teams relegated had bad seasons and would normally have survived but that is football

[@connor4435]

I love seeing these videos in the morning, they’re nice to watch while getting ready for work

[@Shannerz]

Leeds have gone from conceding the most amount of goals ever in a PL calendar month last season to not having conceded a single goal in September across 4 games now that they are in the Championship.

[@NihilistCrab]

Think we have a better squad this year than we did last season tbf though (certainly have a better manager). To back up your point - that stat has definitely been helped by a lack of quality finishing from a few sides - Traore's miss for Hull was impressively bad. On the other side of things though, you have Southampton who only conceded 5 less than we did last season with the most goals against them in the league so far this year.

[@Shannerz]

Good points. I don't mean to take away from Leeds' improvements in squad and coaching quality, it is just such a remarkable turn in form to the type of performances we saw in the EPL that I feel some of it has to be down to the quality of opposition.@@NihilistCrab

[@iandawe948]

Couldnt get any worse than useless sam

[@johnmitchell2269]

That 0-8 match had less to do with the standard of the Championship, and more to do with Sheff Utd giving up and throwing in the towel the moment it went 0-3. They stopped closing down and just gave up. They only lost 1-2 to Man City for perspective.

[@jackhewitt600]

As a Norwich fan i hate getting promoted to the Premier League. We never have the squad or finances to stay up and its just a cycle of up and down. Atleast in the Championship i can enjoy a game once in a while and maybe a good standard of football.

[@lwandomadikizela2213]

In the Premier League unlike other leagues, mistakes are brutally punished. When a promoted club is completely unprepared for the brutality of the Premier League 9/10 they will go down and sometimes be so bad that they will be remembered for all the wrong reason. Look at Derby County and Huddlesfield Town. They are remembered as the worst Premier League squads in history and broke so many unwanted records in the process.

[@nethanlock5008]

Huddersfield didn't go down as a newly promoted club. It was their second season 😅

[@drunkenhobo8020]

Ah good ol' English exceptionalism. Other leagues simply don't punish unprepared teams you see...

[@xavier1752]

@@drunkenhobo8020For real. Mistakes being punished is exclusive to the Premier League? Tell that to Ter Stegen last night

[@fallensword32]

It’s not the only league in the world. Winning the champions league made you guys boost the ego huh

[@hills863]

I think it's not only in PL, every league with relegation system do this. You also can see it in Bundesliga 2, where many historic clubs fight for their live because they can't compete in Bundesliga

[@franohmsford7548]

Just for context; What are the percentages of newly promoted teams going straight back down in La Liga, Serie A, Ligue Un and The Bundesliga over the last 30 years, last 10 years, last 5 years?

[@SYKim_94]

This. I’m very interested in seeing this too.

[@jlm8098]

I don't know the percentages, but here in Spain we have the exact same debate this recent years. Recently, teams relegated from La Liga find easier than ever to dominate the second division and regain the promotion back to La Liga. One key aspect is the money they received as "compensation" when they relegate, which combined with some sales position them in really privileged financial situations over the rest of the teams in the second division. So we're reaching a state where most teams have it almost impossible to promote from lower divisions up to La Liga.

[@truechaosmulala3831]

I know in the Bundesliga it is vary 50/50 either you go down and are stuck like Hamburg or you just fly back up like Stuttgart

[@rotua98]

​@@jlm8098i think it not a problem they generate more revenue than the lower team despite the horrible season in the first division, and by that logic of course they are deserve more money i rather see same 6 teams every 2 season that can at least give a fight against the giants, than have gurantee 3 clown teams i like underdog, but they have to earned it

[@franohmsford7548]

@@truechaosmulala3831 There's a good chance that at least one out of every three relegated teams will go straight back up and always has been. The worry is when all three relegated teams go straight back up having dominated the second tier. and that's actually a rare occurrence. Hamburg in Germany are rather like Sheffield Wednesday in England - A historically big team that is struggling - I doubt they want to end up spending 20+ years in the second and third tiers but they could end up doing so if they don't sort themselves out.

[@dubsa8342]

Video Idea: Ipswich Town's insane start to the Championship season, a promoted side 2nd in League One to 2nd in the Championship, only behind Leicester on goal difference and beating Wolves in the Carabao Cup, they were expected to finish in mid-table and are challenging for the Championship title at this point. Edit: If not, do a similar thing with Preston, their Carabao Cup success isn't as prominent, but some predicted them to go down, and they're sitting just outside automatic promotion at the moment.

[@adamg8814]

What a start for the mighty tractor boys. I reckon we’ll just about get playoffs. I can see Leeds or Sunderland catching us up

[@Eric_Hunt194]

Some real trips down memory lane in some of your stock images in this video! In particular the shot of a crowd at Leeds Road, and the one of Phil Starbuck from 1994/95, made me feel rather old!

[@Strangegloves]

Tom davies was training with bristol rovers over the summer, when he joined Sheffield United some of our coaches were quoted in saying "he wasnt overly impressive and he wouldnt of looked out of place in league one" yet here he is gifting a goal to Alexander Isak in the PL........

[@robertbradley7436]

All 3 promoted teams stayed up last year. The gap didn't suddenly grow in the space of 5 months

[@HipkissDesign]

As the video explains, it's the broader trends that are worth paying attention to. If all 3 teams go down this season, it doesn't mean that no promoted team will ever survive ever again, just as all 3 teams staying up last season didn't mean everything's fine and dandy and there's no widening gap between PL and Championship. If all you ever do is pay attention to short-term, surface level details, you'll never understand anything particularly well.

[@user-op6kt8pg9y]

In the last 10 seasons half of them have had the 3 Newly promoted teams get relegated another 3 season have had 2 out of the 3 go down, the truth is the championship just isn't that good

[@smokeymcpot1799]

@@HipkissDesign It's like the government. If all you do is focus on surface level details, you'd say that it's just corruption. But if you dig into it, you'll notice too many people from the tribe of small, circular hats that are pulling the strings.

[@WallsTCAP]

Did you watch the video, man?

[@elvis4868]

cuz there is no money in it man@@user-op6kt8pg9y

[@Dmob1995]

Can we have an updated “what on earth is going on at Scunthorpe United” following the national news coverage about them today and their owner…prime HITC Sevens content

[@joshpotts5063]

I think it’s fair to say that last seasons Premier League was the strongest ever. Two of the three promoted clubs were massively overpowered for the Championship the season before and the third, Forest, were as good as the other two in the second half of the 21/22 season. It’s safe to say that Forests survival last season was a gamble and I’d agree that without Cooper we’d have gone down. For what it’s worth, I can see Burnley just about surviving but mainly because Everton will finally fall through that trap door. Great video as always!

[@cell2179]

I don't know about Everton tbh. They've looked good enough to stay up, and been unlucky/ wasteful in most games. The only game they have looked helpless in is against Villa. Burnley have had a tough run and looked good themselves though. I think Wolves might go down instead

[@joshpotts5063]

@@cell2179 Yeah Wolves could fall potentially, wouldn’t even discount Chelsea at this point! 😂

[@rjw4762]

Agree - I think that 18th place is between Burnley, Everton and WOlves. Burnley more than matched Forest last week and 3 weeks before !

[@joshpotts5063]

@@rjw4762 Should have beaten us to be fair, very unlucky with the Sander Berge handball

[@ephraimakoto3657]

Everton will shithouse their way to safety. People never learn. They turn up with super haram football in the last 10 games like they are Liverpool and win their way out. They beat 2nd place Arsenal late last season.

[@waltdraper1]

Amazing video Alfie, also crazy to watch how, just like you said, the premier league mid table has like eroded (just like the middle class). Feels like you’re either in a Europe race, a relegation battle or you’re brentford.

[@jayzee9149]

After 6 games it's too early to condemn anyone to relegation. There is a discussion to be had about the imbalances in the leagues but perhaps wait till maybe 20/25 games to have some decent sample sizes..

[@budakbaongsiah]

This.

[@CharlesFreck]

Wow, you didn't watch the video! Congratulations! Great job! Your attention span is terrible! Sure would be awkward if he literally acknowledged this in the 2nd half of the video and so supported it with evidence from not only this season but multiple past seasons! Watch the whole video or don't comment. It's that easy lad

[@jayzee9149]

@@CharlesFreck Thanks lad !..You are correct that I did not watch the video. Still makes my comment valid with regards this season. My attention span is fine thanks it's just I choose not to waste my time on pointless things. Well done to the author if he acknowledged the small sample size this season and I may well download the video and watch just the last half to see if your recommendation of a wider argument is valid. So far as "don't comment" is concerned..Public platform thus it's my right to comment as it is your right to respond. This author produces some very interesting content in my view but also some dross. We pick and choose. Thanks for your rather rude addition lad...or mate..or dude...Have a nice day..

[@davidferguson1785]

Really good video. The bit about it reflecting society as a whole wasn't one I'd thought about and landed quite hard. I'd like to see you do a video or two about the Scottish top division. We've had the same champion, more or less, for a decade and 1985 was the last time we had a non old firm winner of the title. All of our young players get hoovered up by English teams who just want to fill squads depriving the division of scottish character and quality.

[@gregorybiestek3431]

As an American I see the foreign billionaires continuing to do everything they can to destroy any hope of any most teams to compete. Eventually they will either drive clubs and perhaps entire leagues into bankruptcy or else get their way to form super leagues without any pro/rel connection to the rest of the football pyramid.

[@joso7228]

North-South Divide? Teams from back ends of London like Fulham, Brentford and Luton in the Premier League.

[@snackweasle6516]

Luton is 35mls from London...Its like saying Gillingham are a London team... @@joso7228

[@joeheaton7607]

I'm so glad you've made this video. This is something I think about so much. I always thought last season was the pinnacle in the sense that there I genuinely felt for the first time the 20 best teams in England were in the premier league.

[@danb1618]

Voted and richly deserved recognition Mr Potts-Harmer! Quality football journalism and entertaining to boot ⚽️

[@lwandomadikizela2213]

P.S. I truly fear for the three promoted clubs. I thought one of those three would be fine while teams like Everton, Wolves and Bournemouth would be the one team to get relegated however I know it's early days but I never thought the three promoted teams would be hopelessly bad and either Sheffield United or Luton Town will rival Derby County and Huddlesfield Town as the worst team ever.

[@gregorybiestek3431]

As an American I have to wonder with so many English clubs in terrible financial distress how long it will be before embarrassing season after embarrassing season results in the complete break off of pro/rel and the EPL converts into a super league without any connection to the rest of the English football pyramid. At the rate the last few years have shown, I would guess another 3-6 years.

[@user-pj2yn9po4n]

Interestingly though, the competitiveness has increased a tad with clubs like Brighton,West Ham & Brentford having good campaigns@@gregorybiestek3431

[@DavidLimofLimReport]

​@@gregorybiestek3431will never happen..

[@gregorybiestek3431]

@@DavidLimofLimReport On the contrary, the billionaires just destroyed pro/rel in the Mexican leagues just this last year. they are circling teams in the Italian league now and have driven about a dozen English clubs to the brink of bankruptcy. Give the billionaires until 2030 and watch what damage they will do to clubs, fans, and communities.

[@Midori_Ringo]

@@gregorybiestek3431 You wish. Another American wanting to turn everything into a shitty franchise model. Legitimately there would be fan riots, the big clubs all across Europe tried for a European Super league and that went down like a lead balloon

[@altvctr]

Commented this on Prems IG page yesterday. Luton and Sheffield look so out of this league... The gap is indeed too large and the promoted teams think only at relegation and how to keep most of prem money, to save for their next promotion from championship next season...

[@fredrickmwiwa6197]

Bro said fellow relegation candidates Bournemouth, Wolves, Everton and Chelsea 😭😭😭🤣🤣🤣

[@simonbaker6962]

Leicester accrued 102 points in 2013 beating Burnley, and Reading got 106 in 2006 and finished in the top 7 the following season.

[@ezraezra2928]

For Leicester's case, the 102 points was achieved in 2014, and the rest is, you know, one of the greatest upsets in sporting history after Greece's Euro 2004 triumph. Reading are now even in League One since their relegation from EPL in 2013.

[@corneliussmiff2773]

Leicester had spent over 100 million quid to get to that point, which at the time was an eye watering figure for the second tier.

[@ejb3605]

Last few videos do not miss. Keep up the great work.

[@jennylithgow2993]

These in-depth videos are always quality

[@JackWalker74.]

Won't lie as a Fulham fan. All this just reminds me what an incredible job Marco Silva did turning us into a proper premier league side over the summer. We didn't fall below 10th after like GW5.

[@oliverqueen5883]

0:20 “Fellow relegation candidates Bournemouth, Wolves, Everton and *CHELSEA”* Ah, the great pleasures of being a lifelong Chelsea fan 😂

[@plkrtn]

Its less of a chasm than the gap between the beginning of the intro and when you finally start the content on a HITC Sevens videos.

[@deborahluck539]

LOVE ALL YOUR VIDEOS! YOU ARE SO WELL VERSED!!! 😊

[@MrDan708]

This is the first time in a while that all three promoted teams have started like this. Usually, at least one of them overachieves, at least in their first year. In this case, we have three clubs that didn't spend what it took to meaningfully improve their squads.

[@vincentlewis838]

Once again another great vid Alfie. As a west ham fan, we have had 3 great years. But it is chastening to know, we are one of the 13. Keep up the good work bro.

[@wwCs49]

Great vid as always, can your next big breakdown be on the state of English refereeing/var ?

[@wanwandokko]

Great review. Your point about Forest says it all really. They've been absolutley clinical in what to do to bridge that gap quickly. Lambasted for having the temerity to do so, some fealt threatened a little that there's a way to join the 13 quickly. This season we're seing a change in their style of play, Psychically they're more than just competeting, they out muscling established opponents. Managers have to be adapable, and backed up with huge wealth, Marinakas. it's a priceless combination, very tricky to achieve. Also- yes, distributing that share of wealth the Champ is all well and good, but you'll see teams like derby absue it, and get HMRC and the tax payer to bail them out.... so I do understand the reluctance

[@indiansfever11]

As a Forest fan I'm terrified because we're the ones who almost lost to Sheffield, and drew Burnley and Luton 😭

[@RR-ut3xl]

I have noticed the top teams strengenthed, the middling teams caught up over the last 2 seasons quite a bit so now even teams 10th in the league are having aspirations of europe, it's definately the hardest year for a new team to try and break in

[@user-wr6it9zp5n]

I really love your work, from Mozambique

[@Brusselpicker]

Luton Fan. I said before this season started that I don't care if we don't win a single game this season and go down with record low points, I'm happy to have made it, proud of the Team that got us there and i hope the board use any money we make on building the new stadium rather than anything else.

[@Alfie_1]

Brentford fan, hope we stay up this year. The injuries have taken their toll on us now, with Rico Henry and Kevin Schade out. People are massively overreacting about our recruitment, which I thought was actually very good this season, seems to be really unpopular. Nathan Collins was bad against Everton and all of a sudden his was the worst thing since the invasion of Iraq. Or people saying that Wissa couldn't possibly be tired in the last two games as it was the start of the season, despite him having to fly to France, then the DRC, then Johannesburg, then to London, then one day rest before catching a four and a half hour bus trip up to Newcastle.

[@Alfie_1]

@@shaunbolten Hopefully Maupay can be good for us like he was last time, he scored 25 goals in the championship in his last season with us.

[@jamesrhodes3969]

Bees fan here, will be a tough season but believe we are better than the three that came up and will raise our game against unlikely opposition. We got super Thomas Frank, he knows exactly what we need! Effort always 💯 that will win us games, also look at the Erikson deal, same sort of magic if needed in Jan to dig us out of a hole.

[@Alfie_1]

@@jamesrhodes3969 I think we will be fine too, just a bit less comfortable than hoped I imagine. To be honest, I just think this team needs some time to get in sync without Henry and now Schade, and then we can be a strong side agani.

[@mpg272727]

Always funny when people try and talk nonsense about clubs like Norwich and Luton for not being able to stay up. Luton have a legue one budget at best and Norwich have an owner worth just 20 million. Neither clubs stand any chance of staying up and if anything people should applade them for not being ran by oil states like so many souless big clubs

[@wikingzwolina4716]

I have faith in Burnley, they had rough start againts upper table teams but they still can score lots of points in upcoming games.

[@erickmay405]

Every time I look in my recommendations I see another banger video from this guy

[@raistormrs]

when it comes to Chelsea, i do wonder, if it has something to do with that Promo tour they did, when other teams were busy properly preparing for the season... have you ever made a video about the relevance of season preperation?

[@nikdouz]

Another great vid Alfie !

[@cornishiron]

Superb analysis (again)

[@cronutism]

Im so happy this 30 min beauty just dropped cuz i ran out of vids to watch ❤😅

[@IFlipRizla]

Cheers Alfie!

[@shawngillogly6873]

I think in the cases of Luton and Sheffield, they both treated this year as a free hit and have other plans with their Premiership money. Burnley I think hedged their bets, buying a team that might be good enough. But if it isn't, will come straight back up next year.

[@markordynamics376]

Alfie going absolutely in on Henderson ! Love it. As it should be. Telling us exactly how it is.

[@eavyeavy2864]

How his double standard appeal to hypocryte you mean

[@drunkenhobo8020]

I just find it funny that people are shocked. Literally all of the rainbow activism is done for image reasons. I think Alfie is just maybe a bit bitter he was fooled by it.

[@molybdomancer195]

@@drunkenhobo8020all of it? I have learned to discount statements that claim “all” or “none” of anything is such and such. There are no absolutes

[@GothPaoki]

Why people are surprised virtue signallers are hypocrites ?

[@drunkenhobo8020]

@@molybdomancer195 So... you discount _all_ statements like that?

[@bossman5141]

Voted for you, hands down the most informed, logical and fair football content creator out there. As evidenced by the fact I agree with virtually everything you say!

[@dangelonyy9630]

I literally saw Leicester city Nottingham forest, Leeds, and Norwich end the season all at 101 points at the 1-4 spots 💀

[@muchwizardrainbowgandalfwi675]

Here's your reminder to vote for Alfie in the football content creator awards! Show your love for the constant hard work and great content that he puts out. As much as I enjoy the Irish guys content but it's very brainless and I usually play it as background noise and to see what weird outdated jokes he will make this time, Alfie puts such big effort and most of his videos are informing and thought provoking.

[@SukmaPancaroba]

Yep 😂 soon after this video got published, Luton Town won their first prem game 😂

[@tja_tv]

A video on how academy players are treated like commodities. Saw a stat seeing how few Prem academy players even make a proper career in the EFL.

[@ardavamik67]

Some people were saying Luton will break Derby County's lowest points record. But if it goes like this, I think 3 or 4 teams will break that record as well

[@tombardsley3081]

That would be fun as a derby fan. Although tbh the record should have gone a few years ago to Huddersfield but wolves gifted them 2 wins

[@jordan_roadhouse4798]

​@@tombardsley3081 So it shouldn't have gone to Huddersfield then.

[@tombardsley3081]

@@jordan_roadhouse4798 it really should have. They were worse than us and wolves finished 7th that season and gave the top teams issues so really shouldn't have lost to that team

[@akshadchavan5528]

Fact that before the start of the season, Burnley were tipped as the one team that would shock everyone and do wonders while they're on the way to become one of the worst teams in the league is insane

[@shyone8386]

They played UTD off the park last match day. They are creating just not finishing, Kompany will figure it out soon

[@Adam_GamesHD]

A shocking team that would seem to do shockingly well ends up doing shockingly bad and shockingly gets relegated

[@henrimarjoan7876]

They have only played 5 games...

[@JumpCutJack]

Losses to City, Villa, Spurs, United in their first 4 out of 5 games. Took a point away at Forest in their other. They're playing tidy football and will start scoring soon, against the teams that their season will be defined against. I wouldn't put money on them going down anyway.

[@TheGregcellent]

They're probably one or maybe 2 January signings away from survival. They're doing everything right except getting the results. Opening few fixtures were very tough

[@acehighjohn1759]

Well done on the nomination Sir! Good luck too 🎉

[@mancityfan45]

wish you could for a video on the gap between Manchester City and United and maybe a brief mention on how it was before.

[@scray2394]

Hi Alfie, great video as always! Could you make a video about the remarkable rebirth of Feyenoord over the last 3 years?

[@adriel68]

Burnley and Luton Town are doing horrible. I feel bad for them, I wanted them to do well.

[@chibifirestorm]

Luton i expected, they obviously were cautious and planned their transfers to become a Championship promotion contender for years to come. Burnley haven't been bad, they've had awful fixtures so far as well

[@Midori_Ringo]

Luton got promoted a year too early, their plan is to go back down, use the financial gain to have the new stadium ready and be in a better position to compete. SHU were so screwed by FFP they legitimately are a worse team than last season. They had to sell their 2 top players. Have a look at who Burnley played. You really expected them to be doing well to start the season with with matches against Spurs, Villa, Utd and City? With Newcastle coming this week. How many points did you expect them to get from those?

[@claptrappers]

I'm confident Burnley will finish comfortably above the relegation zone. We just need the new team to gel, get to grips with the league and play the other teams outside last season's top 6.

[@EnglishMike]

Last season nine Premier League clubs were still in the relegation battle until a few weeks from the end of the season. This season, through the first five rounds of matches, teams in the bottom half of the Premier Leagues managed just two victories against top half opposition, while losing a whopping 28 times against them.

[@jdotx9843]

Remarkable journalism man honestly

[@cyberflea1]

mate we are only in October how can you really tell until February rolls around

[@Laidback_616]

I legit thought Hull city’s coach was Memphis depay for two seconds. 10:38😅

[@bernhardsonn7758]

0:25 haha Relegation candidates Chelsea. 😂😂and how serious he said that. Love it

[@DGAMINGDE]

Day 1: Given the rebranding of Seattle Sounders. I suggest a video on football histories worst crests rebrandings (wouldn't be shocked if Columbus Crew is featured twice lol).

[@GenialHarryGrout]

As you pointed out, Luton's goal for this season will be to bank the cash to allow them to build a new stadium.

[@briankeoco6886]

Yep, I think you've got it right. For now - of course it does change over time. As a Wolves supporter, I believe our consecutive 7th finishes were the best by any new promoted team in 20 years. But that was 5 years ago and Wolves are by now the warning for Brighton and Brentford, that it only takes a couple of bad decisions and you are down in that relegation battle. For the "Other 13", it's far far easier to throw it all away, than it is to get up to 8th or higher.

[@danielhaidar4059]

Stoke, swansea, west brom all received parachute payments recently and havent looked anywhere near going up. Sheffield utd finished 9th in 19/20. Wolves 7th in their first season back. Watford were as high as 11th not too long ago too. It's the top 7 that just ruin it for everyone

[@rwm4738]

This is a very good video, well done.

[@mjc8281]

As a Manchester City supporter for a LONG time, I maintain after going from the 3rd tier to 9th in a pretty short time and then 9th to top 5 that the gap between mid-40s and 9th is less than 9th to 5th. Its worth pointing out though over the last few years we have had a number of teams that have successfully come up and made themselves good mid-league sides.

[@WastedxSkillz]

“What is going on at Ajax” needed!

[@2723cadd]

Got to give it to Burnley they play some beautiful football they’ll stay up no issue, just teething problems at the moment

[@BigSmokeMUFC]

Why do u hate Manchester United? What is ur personal problem with them?

[@jamesduffy7549]

​@@BigSmokeMUFCplastics from miles away hunting glory. Actual manc fans are alright

[@snotwurfit]

Love the Chelsea comment at the start 😂

[@brettcooney]

“However Chelsea are giving it a red hot go……,” 😂😂😂 I love it & love the videos mate….sending love from AUS 👍

[@ErinStephanie-mf2qk]

In September 1989, I remember a newly promoted Crystal Palace - written off as certainties for the drop - being stuffed 9-0 by Liverpool at Anfield. Fast forward to April of that season, and Palace knock a champions-elect Liverpool side out, in the FA Cup semi finals. It’s too early to condemn anyone. I’m not the biggest fan of teams being written after 15 games, let alone 5 or 6. None of these teams have played enough of the teams outside the top bracket, to know roughly how bad or good they are.

[@carrauntoohil86]

It's all very knee jerk imo. It's a long old season, it doesn't end until the end of May and people are already talking as if things are done and dusted at both ends of the table. Football fans never used to be like this, something has changed over the decades.

[@ezraezra2928]

Fun Fact: The surprise defeat for Liverpool at the FA Cup semifinal prevented them for defending their title (and potential clash with arch-rivals Manchester United at Wembley for the Double). Many Liverpool fans believed that it will be the end of the glorious era for the Merseyside, and it went right. After Manchester United won the FA Cup and Liverpool won the same year's First Division title, the rest was simply history. Manchester United with Fergie had won countless trophies until his retirement in 2013, while Liverpool didn't win league titles until the COVID season under Jurgen Klopp.

[@ErinStephanie-mf2qk]

The same day that Palace beat Liverpool 4-3, in the other semi Man Utd drew 3-3 with nearby Oldham. 13 goals in two semis in one day. When the FA Cup could throw up that level of entertainment, in a way it struggles to now.

[@tilburg8683]

I really hope Luton will stay up.

[@Jason-gq8fo]

But harsh on Burnley considering thier fixtures

[@user-pz4su9fi9r]

Alfie, would you care to make a video on Argyle's return to the Championship after more than a decade? We're doing pretty well, considering we're essentially fielding last year's League One squad.

[@ToTheNines87368]

I agree that usually championship teams need to be a bit more pragmatic for a few years at least when entering the premier league. Just look at how Brentford plays now compared to the championship days. They still play with intensity but they have given up possession and often score with just a couple of passes.

[@Invertedbackspace]

Good shit as always lads

[@MikeeyyP95]

I'm not arguing for the Premier League because I agree that the wealth distribution should be better than it is. But during the formation of the Premier League, the EFL was offered a very sizeable % (I think somewhere around 20-25%) of revenue sharing and it was turned down as the EFL at the time thought it would grow much faster than it has. The PL outpaced it and now the EFL is desperate to get a slice of the pie. Now, it'll just come with a price!

[@MR-er5wo]

I don't mind if Bournemouth, Burnley, Luton, Fulham or Brentford go down but I would like to see Sheffield stay up

[@montanaprime]

Alfie, your videos are very good and well researched. Do a video of the dominance of the premier league in europe

[@roboticaljohn8299]

What is there to say lol. More money.

[@isaacbobjork7053]

Luton took 3 points away at Everton just days after this video's release

[@philipbain]

I'm a Sheffield United fan but I am also pragmatic and realised last season that the club were in no shape to be competing in the Premier League both on and off the pitch. What Paul Heckingbottom had done is nothing short of miraculous given the resources available to him, but relegation seems inevitable, as Alfie points out in this video, they are undoubtedly in worse shape this season than they were last season. I think it's a generalisation to say that there is a big gap between the top of the Championship and the bottom half of the Premier League and you have to look at it on a case by case basis, if teams are prepared well enough there is no reason why they can't prosper in the Premier League.

[@peterellis9105]

And parachute payments to relegated clubs makes it worse as a lot of promoted clubs are yo-yo clubs (clubs the have recently been in the Premiership - Burnley & Sheffield United). So it's really hard for a club to get promoted and stay in the Premier League that has not been receiving parachute payments.

[@jazzrockr]

One thing that's happened is that the race to the top (or seemingly limitless cash) has created something where the bottom is just cut adrift. Maybe it's law of averages or watching football outside England, but if the relegation races involve a lot of teams and aren't cut adrift of the title races, then either the top teams either aren't that good, being held back thanks to artificial parity enforcement (yay sports entertainment), or the title race is actually pretty well-defined and set into stone.

[@flapackfez]

I definitely think there is a big gap but I think it's a bit early to see the gap is too large just because the 3 newly promoted teams look like they might be going down. Who knows what could happen by the end of the season, especially since last season all 3 promoted sides stayed up

[@victorkihungi4388]

Last seasons teams simply has better player's. Fulham had mitrovic, brentford had toney and Bournemouth got lucky.