If there's one thing we've learned about the Premier League, it's that promoted sides often find it tough to stick around for more than a year.
Since the 2017-18 season, when Newcastle, Brighton and Huddersfield all stayed afloat, at least one promoted club has gone straight back down.
Last season, Norwich and Watford failed to preserve their status, going from top two in the Championship to bottom two in the top flight, though Brentford's survival ensured it wasn't three from three.
This season, it's up to Fulham, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest to show they have enough to buck the trend and stay afloat. The campaign can act as a real test of the best approach for a new side, with each of the trio going in a different direction in an effort to earn a second successive season in the big time.
Fulham finished top of the Championship last season. However, as Norwich will testify, that's not always a guide to how well-equipped a side is to survive.
One thing is for certain, though; it will be very interesting to see how manager Marco Silva performs with players he has had time to mould to his requirements. Silva's short Hull City spell came with someone else's squad and he didn't last long enough at Watford to give a real impression, but his signings at Everton included some rare bright sparks along with the more wasteful buys.
This summer has seen Silva approach the season with a targeted transfer policy, adding defensive and midfield steel in Kevin Mbabu and Joao Palhinha respectively, and Premier League experience in the form of Bernd Leno and Andreas Pereira. After a massive overhaul in 2018 and a host of loans in 2020 backfired, Silva will hope to secure survival largely by trusting those who led his team to promotion last term.
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If Fulham's business has been low-key, what does that make Bournemouth's? The Cherries waited until August to pay a transfer fee for anyone, eventually parting with around £12million to sign Marcus Tavernier from Middlesbrough after adding Joe Rothwell and Ryan Fredericks on free transfers.
From the outside, it's hard to tell whether this constitutes belief in the current squad or a longer-term preparedness, ensuring relegation this season wouldn't be too damaging. However, manager Scott Parker seems well aware of the limitations of his squad.
"We need to work out whether we want to give ourselves a chance of being competitive this year," the former Fulham boss told the Daily Echo after a weekend friendly against Real Sociedad. "At the moment, that is not the case."
If that's what the manager is saying, it's hard to see last season's runners-up avoiding a return to the Championship. Still, even when Parker rushed through some last-minute business with former club Fulham in 2020, it wasn't enough to stave off relegation.
The third of the promoted sides, Nottingham Forest, have taken the more speculative approach. It needed to be done after some summer exits and the end of fruitful loan deals which helped take them up via the play-offs, but now it's all about how quickly manager Steve Cooper can get a new-look squad to click.
Cooper, to his credit, was able to bring in the likes of Steve Cook and Keinan Davis to great effect midway through last season. However, doing it with a handful of players is very different to his current task of keeping nearly a dozen new faces happy.
Forest have added quality with the likes of Jesse Lingard and Taiwo Awoniyi, but there are question marks over how some of their signings will settle. Their survival depends on them having got more right than wrong in the market, and that's something we can't really know until we see them in action.
If one or more of the promoted sides is to stay up, there are a few other contenders for the relegation spots. Leeds and Everton found themselves in the bottom three as late as May last season, and the pair will have to deal with the loss of key men.
In the Toffees' case, this is Richarlison; the Brazilian moved to Tottenham after scoring twice as many goals as his closest challenger in Everton colours last term. With Cenk Tosun leaving on a free, Ellis Simms departing on loan and Dominic Calvert-Lewin an injury concern, the start of the season could be tough for Frank Lampard's men.
Leeds, meanwhile, have lost not one but two of last season's key players. Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha moved on for a combined sum of close to £100m, but Jesse Marsch - who, like Lampard, arrived during the second half of last season - has been allowed to reinvest pretty much all of it.
Like Forest, the Whites will be reliant on new faces adapting to the Premier League quickly. These include United States internationals Brenden Aaronson and Tyler Adams, as well as winger Luis Sinisterra and highly-rated former Bayern Munich man Marc Roca.
With just 8 points between 13th and 17th last term, a few other clubs won't be overly confident heading into the new season. Aston Villa can probably feel the most assured of that group, having picked up under Steven Gerrard and strengthened in numerous positions over the summer.
Brentford's survival may rest on their ability to respond to the loss of Christian Eriksen, one of their most important men during the second half of last season. A fully fit David Raya should help elsewhere on the pitch after the goalkeeper's absence through injury was keenly felt last term. Ben Mee adds experience and leadership, but the Bees could find themselves working with fine margins.
Finally, Southampton will have concerns after picking up just five points from their final 12 games last season. There are question marks over all of their new signings in terms of how they'll adapt to the Premier League, but manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has shown in the past that he can take youngsters from big six clubs or unheralded talents from European leagues and turn them into what his team needs.
Last season, Hasenhuttl's side took until October to pick up their first win of the season, and a similar start could have their fans worried. The fixture list doesn't look ideal for the Saints, either, with games against three of last season's top six in their opening five encounters.
By that stage, we might have more of an idea of how the relegation candidates might fare this season. Indeed, there may even be another name in the mix as another season-long battle takes shape.
