September 10: Five promoted teams already looking safe from relegation! Hull City included! Who will become this season's surprise?

Is this the newcomer protection period, or have several promoted teams simply decided that they can play cautiously and still make it work? The new season in the top five leagues has only just begun, yet several newly promoted sides have emerged with surprising momentum, aiming not just to avoid relegation but to push toward mid-table or even European spots.

The most eye-catching is Premier League side Hull City, who have surged upward since the opening round in August.

In the first round, they beat Manchester United 2-0 at home, and it is hard to dismiss that scoreline as a fluke.

They then edged fellow relegation rivals Coventry 1-0 in the second round before drawing 0-0 with Villa in the third.

After three matches, Hull City have two wins and one draw, seven points, third place in the Premier League, and have not conceded a goal.

The detail of keeping a clean sheet has rarely been discussed.

In Premier League history, only Charlton in 1998 and Huddersfield in 2017 achieved a similar start as promoted teams.

Hull City have now entered this very small group, relying on an extremely defensive setup.

Their possession rate across three matches is only 29%, basically taking the low-block approach to the extreme.

Coach Jakirovic has made counterattacks and set pieces highly effective, with players over 1.9 meters tall such as Tsolakis and Ajayi acting like two walls in the box, while 1.88-meter McBurnie disrupts opponents up front.

Under this structure, the clean sheets are not just because of goalkeeper form; the whole team's positioning removes opponents' comfortable shooting opportunities.

Interestingly, only 16 months ago this team was close to dropping into League One, and last season they reached the Premier League after finishing sixth in the Championship.

This summer they spent £150 million to sign 18 players, rebuilding most of the squad.

Their investment shows they are not simply here for one season, but want to turn survival football into a stable approach.

From another perspective, if Premier League intensity remains at its current level, Hull City can sustain seven points in the short term, but the long term will depend on injuries and opponents adapting.

Their current clean-sheet run looks more like the freshness of a new defensive structure; once opponents figure them out, whether Jakirovic can raise the tempo will be the key to whether they can stay in mid-table.

In La Liga, Deportivo La Coruna's story feels more like a reboot.

The former 'Super Depor' fell from La Liga all the way to Primera Federacion, spending eight years in the lower leagues before finally returning to the top flight this year.

Their finances also show they cannot spend recklessly, with only €24 million invested in the summer window, a mid-to-lower level figure in La Liga.

The most eye-catching deal was the €1.5 million signing of 37-year-old Aubameyang from Marseille.

While others saw a nearly retired striker, Deportivo saw immediate impact and experience.

Aubameyang responded by directly contributing to six goals in four league matches, silencing doubts with statistics.

In the third round against Valencia, he received the ball near midfield and scored after a long-distance run.

Away against Villarreal in the fourth round, he provided two assists before scoring a decisive goal with another run in the 88th minute.

This is not the style of a veteran waiting for tap-ins; he has accelerated Deportivo's attacking rhythm through movement and explosiveness.

Deportivo are currently fifth after four rounds; the ranking itself is not the key, but the fact they have raised their squad ceiling with limited spending is important.

Casado on loan from Barcelona, Jimenez on loan from Atletico Madrid, and Traore signed freely from West Ham have filled different weaknesses immediately.

This combination allows Aubameyang not to carry the attack from start to finish, letting him choose his moments and maintain efficiency.

If looking only at the present, Deportivo's story resembles a nostalgic comeback.

But judging from the data and recruitment approach, it looks more like a budget-limited rebuilding model: use low-cost veterans to stabilize the team and loans to identify young players worth keeping.

This combination is especially useful for financially pressured promoted teams this season.

In the Bundesliga, Elversberg's style is completely different.

The club completed a three-level rise in five years and is appearing in the Bundesliga for the first time this year.

They won their Bundesliga debut 3-2 at home against former champions Leverkusen, then overturned Gladbach 4-3 in the second round, scoring seven and conceding five in two matches to sit fourth due to goal difference.

The town of Elversberg has only 13,000 residents, and the stadium capacity is about 15,000.

They spent €9.6 million to sign three players, paid €2.5 million to loan three more, and added two free agents; despite many new faces, spending remained controlled.

Coach Vincent Wagner's idea is not to spend tens of millions chasing names, but to find players big clubs do not need and unproven young talents.

For example, Nick Woltemade, bought by Newcastle for €75 million, once spent a season with Elversberg.

This approach of taking surplus resources from bigger clubs is smarter than many promoted teams simply spending heavily.

Elversberg's high scoring in the first two Bundesliga rounds has come more from attacking football and tempo control than from one star player.

The risks are also obvious: scorelines like 3-2 and 4-3 involve intense battles and frequent transitions, creating concerns about fitness and squad depth for a newly promoted team.

If they continue playing with this attacking frequency, they must accept periods when defensive quality drops significantly.

Meanwhile, Schalke's return to the Bundesliga has been less of a dream.

They lost 0-3 to Augsburg in the opening round and were beaten decisively.

However, back at Veltins Arena in the second round, they earned a point against Bayern with a 1-1 draw, a result that showed their character.

Schalke could only spend €2.7 million in transfer fees this summer, while also loaning Huang Hee-chan and Gosens; their total squad value is around €70 million, among the lowest in the league.

With such a squad, instantly becoming title contenders is unrealistic, and a lower-mid-table position is a more reasonable target.

But drawing with historically dominant Bayern shows they will not surrender before facing strong opponents.

For Schalke, the value of this point is not in the table but in the mentality for the remaining 34 rounds.

If they can maintain this ability to raise their level against stronger teams, a lower-mid-table finish may not be difficult.

The problem is that the €2.7 million investment is very limited, and alternatives will be scarce if Huang Hee-chan or Gosens lose form.

In Serie A, Frosinone have started in a very practical manner.

In the third round they defeated another promoted side in a direct battle, taking six points from three matches and temporarily entering the European places.

They also won 3-0 away at Fiorentina in the second round and only narrowly lost 0-1 at home to Juventus in the first, showing overall stability.

During the summer they kept promotion-winning coach Alvini and added several ready-to-use players.

Bobbezek, Schmid, Hasa and Zerbin were not flashy signings but rotation players who could contribute immediately.

Loan signing Raimondo was even more plug-and-play, quickly securing an important attacking role.

Tactically, Alvini continues with a 4-2-3-1 structure, defending deep and relying on long-ball counters.

Their possession rate this season is only 38%, second-lowest among Serie A's 20 teams, but they average 54 long passes per match, among the highest in the league.

Their idea is clear: instead of competing in elaborate buildup play, they focus on catching the brief moments of transition.

One overlooked aspect is that against Serie A's many slower possession-oriented teams, Frosinone become the side disrupting the rhythm.

As long as the defense remains solid, long-ball counters can repeatedly create less attractive chances, but those chances are not necessarily less valuable than beautifully worked goals.

In a relegation battle, this low-profile approach is often safer than pretending to play possession football.

Looking at several promoted teams together reveals a striking common point: those escaping relegation anxiety are not necessarily the biggest spenders, but those who understand their weaknesses and narrow their style.

Hull City have used extremely low possession and £150 million spending to create a clean-sheet start, Deportivo have built an attack around €24 million spending and a 37-year-old striker, Elversberg have created a high-tempo fairytale with €9.6 million, Frosinone have entered European places with 38% possession, and Schalke have regained some dignity through a €2.7 million window and a 1-1 draw with Bayern.

So the question is this:

Among these promoted teams, do those who choose to play cautiously actually have a better chance of surviving in Europe's top five leagues than those insisting on possession football? Which approach do you favor? Share your thoughts in the comments.