The gap between top-flight teams and those looking to emulate them seems to be getting bigger and bigger. But not if this lot have anything to say about it.

Last season we saw Sunderland storming into Europe after coming back up into the top flight. Leeds United also bucked the trend of promoted clubs going straight back down.

But it’s increasingly hard to compete at the top level and they were exceptions compared to recent years.

Still, from the early days of this season, there are a few notable teams enjoying their moment as top-tier newcomers.

We’ve picked out five of the most eye-catching from across Europe’s top 10 leagues.

5. Elversberg (Germany)

Runners-up in the German second tier last season, Elversberg have earned their first shot at playing in the Bundesliga.

Impressively, they started it with wins over Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Monchengladbach, top-flight teams since 1979 and 2008 respectively.

Their form since has been fairly balanced, but a 4-3 win over Augsburg was eye-catching. Even against Bayern Munich, they were drawing with 20 minutes left.

Attacking midfielder Maurice Krattenmacher, a summer signing from Bayern, was named the Bundesliga Rookie of the Month for September.

4. Hull City (England)

Well, no one saw this coming.

After sneaking into the Championship play-offs and overcoming Millwall and Middlesbrough to go up, Hull weren’t seen too favourably in everyone’s pre-season predictions.

But they were back with a bang in the Premier League, kicking off with a 2-0 win over Manchester United that was no small feat, no matter how bad the opposition’s fortunes have since turned out to be.

They beat fellow promoted side Coventry a week later and although they haven’t won since, four draws – including one against Chelsea – have kept up their momentum.

Hull are mid-table after eight games, which is better than most people expected. They might run out of steam, but they’ve shown they’re not here to make up the numbers.

There were some people out there who thought they could be a candidate to threaten Derby County’s record for the fewest points in a Premier League season. Just one more win and they’ll have smashed past it already.

3. Academico de Viseu (Portugal)

The last sight of Academico in the Portuguese top flight was in 1989, although that club folded in 2005 and this current entity had to rise from the ashes.

They finished as runners-up in the second tier last season to reach the Primeira Liga and have gone on to win five of their first nine games.

They’ve drawn with Benfica and beaten Sporting, showing they’ll be no pushovers against the big boys.

2. Frosinone (Italy)

There must be something in the waters in Rome and the surrounding areas.

Lazio are flying. Roma are too. And even Frosinone, the next closest club to the capital geographically (based in the same region but about 50 miles south), are turning heads right now.

They’ve been promoted to Serie A three times before. Each time, they were relegated straight back to Serie B after one season.

But they might be able to avoid a repeat this time around. They’ve morphed into one of Serie A’s most exciting attacking outfits since the international break, scoring four goals or more in three consecutive games.

Their only losses so far have been to Juventus and Napoli – teams they now find themselves above in the table. They even managed to beat Como, who are in the Champions League this season and haven’t lost to anyone else in the league yet.

Antonio Raimondo, on loan for a second season from Bologna, is joint-top of the Serie A scoring charts too.

1. Amedspor (Turkey)

Hats off to all three of the promoted sides in the Turkish Super Lig. Erzurumspor and top-flight debutants Corum are both mid-table after nine games.

But it’s Amedspor who are really making their mark. Like Corum, they’ve never played at this level before. And yet they’re currently second only to Galatasaray – whose budget absolutely dwarves theirs – in the standings.

A club strongly representative of Kurdish identity, Amedspor have gained six wins, two draws and just one loss so far. That loss was back in August and since then they’ve beaten Mohamed Salah’s Trabzonspor and even managed to hang on to a win over a well-established side like Besiktas with 10 men.

You may recall their striker Mbaye Diagne once playing for West Brom. They also have the once highly-rated Gift Orban in their attacking ranks.

They’ve been having to do this the shrewd way, but it seems to be working for them so far.