For the majority of English football fans, the key battle happens at the top of the table in the race to be crowned Premier League champion. However, every year, three new teams are welcomed to the top-flight and we want to take a look at whether any of the newly-promoted teams have a realistic chance when it comes to avoiding relegation.
The lucky sides to earn their Premier League places for 2017/18 are Newcastle United, Brighton & Hove Albion and finally Huddersfield Town. The trio represents a nice blend of proven top level quality, a complete newcomer, and one of the most decorated English sides from yesteryear.
Of course, it's going to be interesting to see how they all fare against the stellar teams up and down the country, so let's break down each club one-by-one and work out which team has the best chance at retaining their Premier League status over the next twelve months.
Newcastle United - Championship winners
During the 2015/16 season, The Magpies got a real jolt back down to earth when they were unable to maintain their Premier League status. But, to Rafa Benitez's credit, he didn't run away and leave them in freefall. The Spaniard stuck it out and his Newcastle team fought valiantly to return at the first time of asking.
The St James' Park faithful have already been watching Premier League calibre players over the last twelve months, and to be honest, they only needed a few tweaks here and there. Their most notable arrival comes in the form of Javi Manquillo; once of fierce rivals Sunderland. However, they already have an excellent spine of top-quality footballers.
Newcastle's rowdy home fans will drag their team through the tough times, and they have the talent to cause an upset or two throughout the season. The Northern club should pick up more than enough points over the 38-game campaign, and, barring disaster, they'll be fine.
Prediction: 14th place finish. Comfortable survival.
Brighton & Hove Albion - Championship runners-up
Brighton are a team who other Football League hopefuls will look towards for inspiration. They've gone about things in the right way, steadily building to be as best prepared as possible when their big moment comes. They finished second to the aforementioned Newcastle, and to their credit, the South Coast club pushed them every single step of the way.
Chris Hughton is the ideal manager for Championship football, and it just goes to show what a bit of consistency at the helm can do for you. He's had a few years to build a team capable of promotion. Fair play to The Seagulls for keeping the faith in their man.
They don't have a squad draped with top-level players or flashy talents. Instead, they've turned to hardworking footballers who play well in a particular system. So far, it's worked for them but they need that little bit of magic if they are to survive. Their summer has been mooted. Outside of Matt Ryan on a permanent deal and Izzy Brown on a loan move, they've done next to nothing in the market. That, unfortunately, will cost them.
Prediction: 18th place finish. They'll go down. Just.
Huddersfield Town - Play-off winners
The Terriers haven't had Premier League football on offer since the early 70s, so undoubtedly their passionate fans are in absolute dreamland right now. Led by the charismatic David Wagner, Huddersfield were last years surprise package in the Championship.
Buoyed by fantastic loan signings including Liverpool's Danny Ward, Manchester City's Aaron Mooy and Chelsea's Izzy Brown, the Yorkshire side never gave up fighting right until the end, as they crept into the play-offs. Huddersfield won two penalty shootouts during their end of season run, keeping their cool to make it into the big time.
Their main problem is the fact that their key players have rejoined parent clubs, although they did manage to sign Aaron Mooy from Manchester City on a permanent basis. Town's other notable signing of the summer is Derby County's Tom Ince, but aside from that, their summer window has been rather average.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that Wagner's passion will only get them so far, and they'll be underdogs in every single league fixture they take part in this term. They may pick up a few wins here or there, but I just don't think they'll have the quality to survive the dreaded drop.
Prediction: 20th place finish, relegation.
