Newly promoted Ligue 1 sides in a never-before-seen position | OneFootball

It’s been a rough start to the season for the three newly promoted sides in Ligue 1. After five matchdays, Angers SCO, AS Saint-Étienne, and AJ Auxerre occupy the bottom three positions, leaving them vulnerable to drop back down into the second tier.

This is the first time in the history of this competition that three newly promoted Ligue 1 sides find themselves in the relegation zone in the 18-team era.

Between those three sides, they have a combined two wins domestically in 2024-25, with a total of nine goals scored between the three, which is eight fewer than the highest-scoring unit in this competition have alone, Paris Saint-German.

It is the first time in nearly a decade that all three newly-promoted sides are in this position.

The last time this happened was during the 2014-15 Ligue 1 campaign when SM Caen, RC Lens and FC Metz were in the bottom three places by matchday 23.

On that occasion, Caen were the only side of those three to remain in the French top flight beyond that season.

Angers, Saint-Étienne and Auxerre have conceded a combined 36 goals in the league this season, just one fewer than what the top eight teams in the table have given up between them so far.

While things are not looking good for the newly promoted sides right now, history suggests the poor start by all three is not necessarily a death sentence.

Never in the 21st century have we seen every promotional side get relegated in their first season back in the French top flight.

GFFN | Joel Lefevre