Hull City, Ipswich Town and Coventry City started the season as the three clubs most widely expected to go straight back down. All three were odds-on with many bookmakers for relegation, and a pre-season statistical model published this month put Hull's chance of the drop at 81.6%, Ipswich's at 47.5% and Coventry's at 43.1%.
After one round of matches they have six points from a possible nine. All three were drawn against clubs that finished in last season's top seven, and the only one of the three to lose did so at the ground of the champions.
Hull beat Manchester United 2-0 at the MKM Stadium on Saturday lunchtime, their first top-flight match since 2017 and their first league win over United since a Second Division success in 1974. Semi Ajayi opened the scoring after United failed to deal with a corner, and Nobel Mendy, a central defender signed earlier this month, nodded in a Regan Slater free kick in the 38th minute. Hull deserved the win. Andrey Santos and Tielemans, the two United debutants signed for a combined £85m, were withdrawn with 23 minutes remaining after struggling to get a foothold in the game.
The result carried an edge because Hull had been written off in public. Joe Cole, the former England midfielder, said on a podcast that he had turned down an offer to work at the game as a pundit because he would be "stunned if they stayed up", and that "Hull are gone, man". When Mendy scored, the MKM Stadium sang "Are you watching, Joe Cole?"