It was an afternoon of late drama, joy and anguish at the bottom of the Premier League table – but what can we tell about the fight for survival after 10 games?
Ipswich Town remained winless after conceding a late equaliser against Leicester, as do Wolves, after Gary O’Neil’s side played out a frantic 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace.
Meanwhile, new boys Southampton celebrated their first win of the campaign to ease the pressure on manager Russell Martin.
With 10 games of the season in the books, we take a look at the bottom three.
Southampton’s win took them to four points – but only nine teams have survived from such a lowly total in Premier League history
Eighteen teams have previously been winless in the Premier League after 10 matches
Five of these teams managed to survive
The bad news for Ipswich is that no promoted side has ever survived after failing to win in their first 10 games
Ipswich have dropped 12 points from winning positions, the most of any Premier League team in 2024/25
The combined points total of the newly-promoted sides after 10 games (19 points) is the second-worst in Premier League history.
At the same stage last year, Sheffield United, Luton Town and Burnley had amassed a combined 10 points. All three were relegated.
Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna was fuming with referee Tim Robinson after a late Leicester equaliser denied his side a first win of the season.
The official turned down what looked a clear penalty when Ipswich’s Conor Chaplin was barged over by Abdul Fatawu.
Moments later Robinson showed Phillips a second yellow card for a challenge on Ricardo Pereira.
“In the context of the game to compound it by giving a second yellow is unacceptable, in my opinion, for the referee to put himself into the centre of the match like that,” McKenna said.
“It’s 10 games we haven’t won, but 10 games and five from which we got a result, and probably eight that we competed in.”
Ipswich’s final assignment before the international break is a trip to London to face Tottenham Hotspur.
Southampton manager Martin was certainly in a better mood than his Ipswich counterpart.
The Saints secured a first win of the campaign thanks to a late Adam Armstrong goal, and in doing so moved off the foot of the table.
“It’s a big relief, I have happiness, pride and gratitude with the players, the staff, owners and the board. It’s been a tough period,” Martin said.
“The guys stuck with it, the way they work, the way they train, they’re an amazing group, I love being here and I want to drag it out for as long as I can.”
It’s not a bad time for Southampton to grab their first win; next weekend they travel to Molineux to face fellow strugglers Wolves.
Wolves fought back from a goal down against Crystal Palace but couldn’t hold on for what would have been an important three points.
The defensive frailties of O’Neil’s side proved costly once again, with errors and poor marking essentially gifting Palace both goals.
“I don’t think it’s all on him. The whole group has a lot of responsibility,” said Wolves striker Matheus Cunha when asked about the pressure on O’Neil.
“Any club can pass through this situation, it’s part of the game. We just need to keep working, the results are coming.”
Wolves have failed to win any of their opening 10 games of a league season for only the third time in their history, after 1926-27 and 1983-84.
The silver lining for Wolves is that they ended a run of four consecutive home defeats after what has, admittedly, been a cruel opening schedule.
“The fact the lads are fighting for everything is the positive, you can’t ask for more than what they give,” O’Neil told Sky Sports.
“There were some decisions we made out there that weren’t correct and we’ve got to address that.
“It’s going to be a tough season, we’re going to have to fight and scrap for a long time.”
Is it too early to call Wolves’ clash with Southampton next weekend a relegation six-pointer? The way things are going, probably not.
