Is this the worst bottom three in Premier League history?

Reaching the Premier League is the goal for every Football League club.

But in recent years it has looked less of a prize and more of a curse.

Last season, all three promoted clubs for the 2023-24 campaign - Luton Town, Burnley and Sheffield United - were immediately relegated back to the Championship.

The three who came up for this campaign, Leicester City, Southampton and Ipswich Town, currently occupy the table's final places - and we could now see all three promoted sides relegated in consecutive seasons for the first time in Premier League history.

So, is surviving in the Premier League becoming more difficult for those coming up?

When Luton, Burnley and Sheffield United went down in the previous campaign, they had the lowest combined tally (66) of any three relegated teams in a 38-match Premier League season.

But this season's bottom three are on course to 'beat' that tally, with Opta projecting a season-end total of 58 points between Southampton, Ipswich and Leicester.

With 28 matches played, Southampton, Ipswich and Leicester have accrued 43 points between them.

That's the lowest combined total at this stage of any bottom three in Premier League history.

It is also six fewer than the combined tally of 49 of Burnley, Luton and Sheffield United last season and significantly lower than the second, third, and fourth-lowest totals in Premier League history.

Survival was the goal when Southampton were promoted via the play-offs.

But with 10 games left, they have virtually given up on safety as they are 14 points adrift of 17th-placed Wolves.

Instead, Ivan Juric's side are fighting to avoid earning the tag of the worst Premier League side ever.

That unfortunate title - if we are judging on points alone - belongs to Derby County in 2007-08.

Paul Jewell's side finished the season on 11 points, fewer than the previous record set by Sunderland in 2005-06 when they finished with 15.

Southampton's defeat by Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday means they have fewer points (nine) than Derby had after 28 matches in 2008.

The good news for Saints fans is the Rams managed just one point from a possible 30 during their last 10 matches of the campaign.

Southampton, therefore, need three points in the next 10 matches to pass the unwanted mark set by Derby 17 years ago.

In the last four seasons stretching back to the 2020-21 season, seven of the 12 promoted sides have immediately been relegated back to the Championship.

The clear exception in that time is the 2022-23 season, when Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth and Fulham all survived at the first time of asking.

Forest did so by spending more than £150m on over 20 new players, which contributed to the club being docked four points in the 2023-24 season for breaching the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability rules.

Fulham, too, spent big - with an outlay of more than £100m on the calibre of Joao Palhinha, Andreas Pereira and Issa Diop.

The Cottagers had been a Premier League club in two of the previous four seasons at that point, meaning they had received parachute payments for their two relegations to help them back into the top flight.

Southampton and Ipswich also had outlays of more than £100m last summer, showing that spending big still cannot guarantee survival.