Promoted trio find goals hard to come by

– The evidence of a weekend when promoted Newcastle United, Brighton and Hove Albion and Huddersfield Town found the net once between them is that the crucial matter of goalscoring may decide whether any of the trio avoid relegation this season.

Rarely in the Premier League era have all three promoted clubs avoided immediate relegation.

Fulham, Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers did it in 2001 and Queens Park Rangers, Norwich City and Swansea City survived 10 years later.

Almost 50%, however, straight back down.

For that reason, if no other, Brighton, Huddersfield and even last season’s second-tier champions Newcastle featured strongly among the teams tipped for an immediate return.

In the first few weeks, both Newcastle and Huddersfield reached unexpected heights of the top four, but they have begun dropping away since.

Brighton on the other hand started slowly before successive home wins, including Sunday’s 1-0 win over Newcastle, lifted them towards the middle of the table.

In the opening six games, Huddersfield and Brighton have hit five goals each, Newcastle six.

Sunday’s pair were prolific enough last season. Rafa Benitez’s Newcastle hit 85 in their 46 matches, 23 of them by striker Dwight Gayle.

Yet he has not scored this season and had already found the Premier League testing with former club Crystal Palace, for whom his record was roughly a goal every four appearances.

Aleksandar Mitrovic has an almost identical record and has already picked up a retrospective three-match ban for an elbowing incident missed by the referee.

So Benitez needs goals from his close-season signings Joselu from Stoke City and Christian Atsu (Chelsea), who have one each.

Brighton’s Tomer Hemed, the matchwinner on Sunday, could face a similar ban to Mitrovic if the Football Association decide his apparent stamp on Newcastle’s DeAndre Yedlin towards the end of the game was deliberate.

The club cannot afford to lose him, especially at a time when last season’s top scorer Glenn Murray, 34 this week, is injured.

They will be counting on Pascal Gross, the German signed from FC Ingolstadt, whose two goals in the 3-1 win over West Bromwich Albion included the club’s first at the top level since 1983.

Huddersfield also received an early repayment on a new signing, when Benin striker Steve Mounie scored twice in the opening game at Crystal Palace. – go