Coventry, Ipswich and Hull accumulate strong early returns in Premier League after nine games
Coventry City, Ipswich Town and Hull City have produced encouraging starts to the Premier League season, collecting a combined 31 points after nine games as of 31 October 2026. Hull and Ipswich account for 22 of those points, with each club on 11 and Coventry on nine.
Coventry endured a difficult introduction to the top flight, losing their first four matches by a combined 10-0, including a 5-0 defeat at Brighton that left supporters pessimistic. The Sky Blues responded by winning three of their next five fixtures, including consecutive victories over Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United in September, and Saturday’s 3-1 win over Sunderland moved them up to 15th in the table.
The three promoted sides together have 31 points from nine games, and Hull and Ipswich supply 22 of those points between them while Coventry have nine. Since the 2010-11 season, every one of the 18 promoted teams that amassed at least 11 points from their opening nine games avoided relegation.
Coventry’s turnaround came after a summer of heavy recruitment: the club spent more than £140m on 12 permanent signings, a rebuild that included Caleb Yirenkyi for a club-record fee, Carl Rushworth from Brighton and Sidiki Cherif from Fenerbahce, plus Loum Tchaouna from Burnley and Taiwo Awoniyi from Nottingham Forest. Manager Frank Lampard took five weeks to register his first wins as the reshaped squad settled, a period complicated by three of their first four matches being against the current top three - Arsenal, Manchester City and Brighton.
Midfielder Jack Rudoni said his side retained confidence after the early setbacks. "We always had that belief," Rudoni told BBC Sport. "We have a really good squad here, where the morale is good and we get behind each other, which is what we will continue to do all season. "We know it's not going to be an easy ride, there's going to be ups and downs - but hopefully more ups than downs. Starting today with another three points, so we can build on that now."
Ipswich’s return to the top flight followed promotion in May and the club’s 2024 elevation ended a 22-year absence from the Premier League; they finished 19th in 2024-25 with four wins from 38 games. Summer recruitment included the return of Julio Enciso, who assisted Ipswich’s opening goal against Sunderland and set up another at Old Trafford the following week; Enciso has since scored in consecutive matches against Nottingham Forest and Hull City.
After a 2-2 draw with Hull, Ipswich manager Gary O'Neil praised his players’ resilience. "It's tough to be in control and find yourselves 2-1 down with the place bouncing," O'Neil told BBC Match of the Day. "Our lads have some character and we just need to keep it up. Hull are a very good side and I'm really pleased with how we did against them."
Hull made an immediate impact by beating Manchester United 2-0 on the opening weekend, following that with a 1-0 victory at Coventry and earning draws at Aston Villa and Chelsea. The Tigers have taken only three points from their four matches since suffering their first defeat of the season, and their next league opponents are Arsenal and Brighton.
