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The champagne has dried up, the celebrations have ended and for the three newly promoted Premier League teams it’s time to get down to business as they gear up for top-flight football next term.
History tells us that it is no mean feat staying up in the first season following promotion; the gap in quality between the Championship and EPL is big and it will take wise decision making, clever recruitment and a little bit of luck for Sheffield United, Norwich City and Aston Villa to retain their place amongst the elite come the end of the 19/20 campaign.
So, who is best placed to stay up? Who could ‘do a Fulham’ and head straight back down?
Let’s take a lake at how the trio of promoted hopefuls will get in.
Sheffield United
Christ Wilder has done a fantastic job for his boyhood club, the Blades. Wilder has guided the Sheffield outfit to promotion all the way from League 1 to England’s top- flight and he rightly deserved his accolade for ‘2018/19 Manager of the year’.
Wilder’s Blades outfit are renowned as being an energetic, high pressing team- and whatever happens this coming season you can ensure that they won’t go down without a fight.
Looking at the squad as it currently stands, although the great team spirit that helped guide United to the promise land will still play a part, quality is essential and the Blades must dip into the transfer market and sign some proven talent, particularly up top as we know that scoring goals is a lot more difficult in the EPL.
There is a core a young players that will chomping at the bit to prove that they can be top-flight players but is that enough?
The good news is that if you like a wager on the football while you’re watching, backing Sheffield United to cause a few upsets could be one to consider because they will generally be priced at long odds. There are numerous ways to do this frisk-free too thanks to the rise of matched betting, whereby you can use free bets and bonuses given by bookmakers to cover all outcomes.
OddsMoney are probably one of the most recognised matched betting platforms and there is even a decent OddsMonkey promo code you can try if you want to make a bit of extra cash from the bookies.
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Aston Villa
After years of decline culminating in relegation for the former European Champions in 2015/16, it took 3 year of suffering in the second tier before another boyhood fan-turned-manager took over the Villa Park hotseat and guided the club back to where many feel they rightly belong after a 2-1 play-off victory against Derby.
Despite their history and stature, Villa still will face the same struggles as any other newly promoted side and again player acquisition is key.
Wesley, the club’s record signing so far, will likely lead the attack and there is a strong core starting to develop down at b6 with Mings and McGinn complimenting star talent, Jack Grealish.
Plenty more faces are expected to head through the door before the transfer window shuts and provided boss Smith can get the new faces to gel, his progressive style of football and clamness should help Villa stay up.
Norwich
Norwich are a unique club and the exploits of Daniel Farke and his staff should not be overlooked after the way the guided the Canaries to the title last term- and with style too.
Like Sheffield United, they may not have a squad full of ‘names’ but they do have an excellent team spirit and a footballing identity, which should bode well from them this upcoming season.
The board have been honest and said they won’t be spending big so it will be much of last season’s team attempting to keep the club up. Whether that approach works remains to be seen but it’s set to be an exciting campaign for all three promoted outfits regardless.
