The Premier League's worst bottom three ever?

Luton Town will join Burnley and Sheffield United back in the Championship next season after their relegation from the Premier League was confirmed on the final day - with the three combining to set a record low total of points.

The Hatters' 4-2 defeat by Fulham saw them finish six points adrift of Nottingham Forest, who beat Burnley 2-1.

That means all three of last season's promoted clubs have suffered an immediate return to the second tier for only the second time in Premier League history.

Rob Edwards' side have won plenty of fans with their gutsy displays throughout the campaign but the hard facts are that the three teams going down ultimately were not good enough.

While Luton were left on the brink of relegation following their defeat at West Ham last weekend, Burnley's fate was sealed after they lost at Tottenham.

Sheffield United, eight points adrift at the bottom of the table, learned their fate in April and return to the Championship after conceding a record 104 Premier League goals.

"The gap is getting bigger and bigger," former Brighton striker Glenn Murray said on Final Score.

On the three promoted clubs going straight back down, he added: "The Premier League is such a dominant league, and I think it will happen more and more often."

The three teams' combined points tally is the lowest cumulative total achieved by the three clubs to be relegated in a Premier League season.

That figure had stood at 76, which Cardiff City, Fulham and Huddersfield finished with 2018-19 but the bottom three this season achieved 10 points fewer.

It will be over to 2015-16 Premier League winners Leicester City, Ipswich Town and the play-off winners - either Leeds United or Southampton, both recent top-flight teams - to avoid a similar fate.

"I think Leicester could possibility buck the trend next year," Murray said.

"They obviously still have a really strong squad coming up from the Championship."

Nottingham Forest were always expected to survive on the final day because of their vastly superior goal difference, which left Luton requiring results to go in their favour on Sunday alongside an unlikely 12-goal swing in their favour.

Forest's final points tally of 32 set a competition record for the lowest points total of a side to avoid relegation - two fewer than the 34 that proved enough for West Brom to stay up in 2004-05.

Luton's final-day also saw them record the lowest points total for a team finishing in 18th position in the Premier League, two points off Fulham's 28 in 2020-21.

A significant reason for the three relegated clubs failing to win more points can be explained in another record-breaking statistic.

The most goals conceded combined by three relegated sides in a Premier League season had stood at 237, in 2011-12.

Luton, Burnley and Sheffield United surpassed that with several games to spare

They have conceded 267 times in their combined 114 fixtures, with rock-bottom Sheffield United accounting for 104 of those goals, taking Swindon's long-standing record of 100 set in 1993-94.