Premier League 2018-19: Which Promoted Team Has The Best Chance Of Staying Up?
Cardiff
Cardiff claimed second spot in the Championship to earn automatic promotion to the top flight. They had one of the weaker attacks of the top six sides, scoring 69 times in total, but tied with Wolves for the strongest defence in the division, letting in just 39 goals over the course of the 46 game season.
Unlike Fulham, Cardiff started their season very strongly with five straight wins and were the form team in the division in the early stages before being overtaken by Wolves. They showed great consistency, however, and never spent a single week outside of the top four.
The club's manager, Neil Warnock, is well known for helping clubs qualify for the top flight and sets his side out to be hard to beat, with hard-working, physically strong players all around the pitch. The likes of Sol Bamba and Bruno Ecuele Manga are very solid at the back, while Loic Damour and Joe Ralls help to hold down the midfield.
Up front, the club relied on Junior Hoilett and Kenneth Zohore to score most of their goals, but versatile midfielder Callum Paterson finished as the top scorer with 10 strikes in the Championship. This highlights a key point: Cardiff lack a clear goalscorer. Unlike Wolves and Fulham, they don't have a star player who can net 15+ goals in a season.
Since the inception of the Premier League, Cardiff have only achieved promotion once and immediately went right back down to the Championship at the first time of asking, finishing rock bottom of the table. Their biggest problem back then was a lack of goals, and there are worries that history could be about to repeat itself this season.
The club has tried to rectify this issue by bringing in 19-goal man Bobby Reid, but doubts remain over Reid's ability to score at the top level, and Cardiff's other signings are all Championship players with no real top flight experience.
Perhaps even more than Fulham, Cardiff are going to need a real team effort to stay in the Premier League. While their London counterparts have spent big cash in the transfer window and can boast of some true star talent, Cardiff are a side that rely on work ethic and unity to win games, rather than moments of brilliance from individual players. Hard-working players are valued in the top flight, but Cardiff need to hope and pray that Reid, Zohore, or Hoilett can start scoring regularly or they just will not win enough games to stay up.