Leeds United, Burnley and Sunderland all return to the Premier League this season with the primary objective of avoiding the fate that has befallen their immediate predecessors.

For two successive seasons, the trio of promoted clubs have found the top flight a treacherous transition and failed to survive, tumbling straight back down to the Championship.

Their performance last season offered evidence of a growing gap between the Premier League and second-tier as Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton were all relegated weeks before the end of the campaign.

Saints narrowly avoided the ignominy of a record low total of points in a Premier League season.

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