English Premier League Power Poll: Week 26

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Bad news for the rest of England. Manchester United are turning the Premier League into their own private party.

United brushed aside Everton at the weekend, and with Manchester City losing to Southampton, the Red Devils opened up a 12-point lead atop the league table.

Can anyone catch them? Can any team even come close in this week's edition of the B/R English Premier League Power Poll?

Keep reading to find out.

Click here for the table and here for the latest results.

How It Works

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Six B/R personalities ranked all 20 Premier League clubs. A first-place vote counted as 20 points, a second-place vote as 19—and so on.

The voters this week were:

Aliko Carter: B/R front-page editor. @AlikoCarter

Adam Hirshfield: B/R deputy editor. @ahirshfield

Sean Swaby: B/R featured columnist coordinator. @seanswaby 

Will Tidey: B/R world football lead writer and editor. @willtidey

Sam Tighe: B/R world football tactical analyst. @stighefootball

Michael Cummings: B/R world football lead writer and poll organizer.

Complete Rankings

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This week, the rankings featured two more ties.

After a three-way tie for 13th place last week, the poll has "only" two teams there this week. Farther up the list, there's another tie for ninth position.

Here are the complete rankings.

1. Manchester United.

2. Tottenham Hotspur

3. Chelsea

4. Arsenal

5. Manchester City

6. Swansea City

7. Everton

8. West Bromwich Albion

9. (tie) Liverpool

9. (tie) Southampton

11. Fulham

12. Stoke City

13. (tie) Newcastle United

13. (tie) Sunderland

15. Reading

16. West Ham United

17. Aston Villa

18. Norwich City

19. Queens Park Rangers

20. Wigan Athletic

20. Wigan Athletic

Julian Finney/Getty Images

Points: 9

Previous: 20

Wigan, who lost 4-1 at Chelsea over the weekend, are winless in their last six matches and 12 of their last 13.

Sean: Poor Wigan. Poor, poor Wigan.

19. Queens Park Rangers

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Points: 19

Previous: 17

So much for QPR's unbeaten 2013. Losing 4-1 at Swansea won't help Harry Redknapp's rescue quest.

18. Norwich City

Jan Kruger/Getty Images

Points: 27

Previous: 19

Norwich have drawn three straight—but lost five of their previous six.

The Canaries are 14th but sit only six points above the relegation zone.

17. Aston Villa

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Points: 29

Previous: 18

Sam: Eight weeks after Villa's famous triumph at Anfield, they finally won again. The relief on the players' faces told the whole story.

16. West Ham United

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Points: 36

Previous: 11

Sam: The Hammers need to be careful here, they're on a torrid run and could easily slip further down the table.

15. Reading

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Points: 37

Previous: 10

Sam: It shows you how bad they were at the start of the season when, after three wins from six, they're still in the relegation zone.

13. (tie) Newcastle United

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Points: 47

Previous: 8

With all that talent—especially after the January buys—Newcastle couldn't possibly be drawn back into the relegation scrap.

Right?

13. (tie) Sunderland

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Points: 47

Previous: 16

Sunderland must have fancied their chances against Arsenal after Jack Wilshere limped off with an injury and Carl Jenkinson was sent off for his second bookable offense.

But the Black Cats couldn't find a way through Arsenal's suddenly stout back line.

12. Stoke City

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Points: 51

Previous: 13 (tie)

The Potters remain a top-half team in the table (10th place) despite winning only once in their last seven league matches.

11. Fulham

Jan Kruger/Getty Images

Points: 58

Previous: 12

Fulham and Norwich played out a scoreless draw at the weekend, and those who missed it must have been wondering whether the match actually took place.

9. (tie) Liverpool

Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Points: 64

Previous: 4 (tie)

Sean: Liverpool dominate at home, yet still fall 2-0 to one of the most out-of-form sides in West Brom. Tough luck, Reds.

9. (tie) Southampton

Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Points: 64

Previous: 13 (tie)

Sam: Say what you want, Mauricio Pochettino has them playing great football and they've finally churned out the first win. Imagine what he could do when actually able to speak English!

Sean: You're welcome, Manchester United.

8. West Bromwich Albion

Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Points: 65

Previous: 13 (tie)

The Baggies pulled a textbook smash-and-grab job against Liverpool, thanks in large part to the heroics of goalkeeper Ben Foster.

7. Everton

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Points: 85

Previous: 6

A top-four team for much of the season, Everton are in danger of losing touch with fourth-placed Tottenham, who are now six points ahead of the Toffees.

6. Swansea City

Warren Little/Getty Images

Points: 86

Previous: 9

Swansea have lost just once in their last nine league outings—but have won only three of those games.

Still, the 4-1 thrashing of QPR was nice.

The Capital One Cup final is next.

5. Manchester City

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Points: 95

Previous: 3

Sean: Gareth Barry showed some excellent finishing ability for a defender over the weekend. Oh, wait...

4. Arsenal

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Points: 103

Previous: 4 (tie)

Sean: Consecutive clean sheets? Relative defensive stability? Well then, this is awkward.

Sam: It's gone by virtually unnoticed, but the Gunners have won three of their last four and kept two clean sheets.

3. Chelsea

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Points: 106

Previous: 7

If Chelsea can defeat Manchester City at the Etihad on Feb. 24, the Blues would be back in the race to finish second this season.

2. Tottenham Hotspur

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Points: 112

Previous: 2

Sean: Gareth Bale is excruciatingly good. There, it's been said—a bitter Arsenal supporter

1. Manchester United

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Points: 120

Previous: 1

Sean: Nope. No one's going to catch Manchester United and the little boy inside Robin van Persie.

Sam: The Red Devils swatted an impressive Everton team aside with consummate ease this week. Worrying scenes for the chasing pack.

 

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