Why Brighton could have just TWO seasons left in Premier League - according to research

The study looked at every Championship promotion since the play-offs began in 1987.

It found that teams promoted in second place will spend an average of five years in the topflight – longer than any other form of promotion.

The research also suggests first and second-place sides in usually average around 40 points in the Premier League the following season – which is what Brighton achieved.

Indeed, 61% of promoted teams from the play-offs go straight back down after one season, which could be bad news for recent victors Fulham.

FreeSuperTips also discovered that teams promoted in the automatic promotion places tend to stay in the Premier League for five seasons.

That means the Seagulls could have just two more seasons left in the top-flight.

However, with talented manager Graham Potter at the wheel and stars Neal Maupay, Ben White and Lewis Dunk alongside new signings Adam Lallana, Joel Veltman and Jenson Weir, there’s every chance the club could be in the Premier League for a long time.

Interestingly, research showed there are no clear advantages of being promoted as champions.

Those coming up in either first or second place average the same amount of points (40) in their first Premier League season. The play-off winners hit a mere 36 points on average in their first season in the Premier League.