English Premier League Power Poll: Week 30

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If the Premier League title race wasn't already over, it surely is now. Meanwhile, the B/R English Premier League Power Poll keeps on keeping on.

Everton's home win over Manchester City helped Manchester United go 15 points clear atop the table—so the Red Devils are obviously No. 1 in our poll.

But who's second this week? And which clubs fill out the bottom of the rankings?

Keep reading to find out. Click here for the league table.

How It Works

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Eight 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.

In each slide, "Points" refers to the number of points accumulated by each team via the voters. "Previous" refers to each team's ranking in the previous edition of our poll.

The voters this week were:

Aliko Carter: B/R front page editor, @AlikoCarter

John Greely: B/R world football assistant editor, @johnwgreely 

Adam Hirshfield: B/R deputy editor, @ahirshfield

Dan Levy: B/R national lead writer, @DanLevyThinks

Karl Matchett: B/R world football full-time writer, @karlmatchett  

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

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

Michael Cummings: B/R world football lead writer and poll organizer, @MikeCummings37

Complete Rankings

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1. Manchester United

2. Chelsea

3. Arsenal

4. Everton

5. Manchester City

6. Tottenham Hotspur

7. Fulham

8. West Bromwich Albion

9. Liverpool

10. (tie) Aston Villa

10. (tie) Southampton

12. Swansea City

13. Newcastle United

14. Norwich City

15. Stoke City

16. Wigan Athletic

17. West Ham United

18. Sunderland

19. Queens Park Rangers

20. Reading

20. Reading

Michael Regan/Getty Images

Points: 17

Previous: 20

Result: Lost 1-0 at Manchester United

Next: At Arsenal, March 30

Manager out, same result: Reading have lost five straight, only four of which they can blame on Brian McDermott.

19. Queens Park Rangers

Ben Hoskins/Getty Images

Points: 19

Previous: 12

Result: Lost 3-2 at Aston Villa

Next: At Fulham, April 1

Manager Harry Redknapp said QPR need five wins to stay in the Premier League (via BBC Sport). With eight matches remaining, Rangers have won only four times all season.

Dan: Just when we thought it was safe to go outside...

18. Sunderland

Michael Regan/Getty Images

Points: 43

Previous: 19

Result: Drew 1-1 home to Norwich

Next: Home to Manchester United, March 30

Sunderland under pressure? You bet: The Black Cats have not won in the league since Jan. 19.

17. West Ham United

Scott Heavey/Getty Images

Points: 45

Previous: 13

Result: Lost 2-0 at Chelsea

Next: Home to West Brom, March 30

West Ham's recent run has been almost as poor as Sunderland's. The Hammers have lost five of seven in the league.

16. Wigan Athletic

Stu Forster/Getty Images

Points: 55

Previous: 18

Result: Won 2-1 home to Newcastle

Next: Home to Norwich, March 30

Wigan remain in the relegation zone but have a game in hand on the three teams directly ahead. Plus, the Latics have won two of three.

Now if their chairman would stop saying crazy things.

Dan: A huge win in the relegation battle over Newcastle. Will it matter? It should.

15. Stoke City

Chris Brunskill/Getty Images

Points: 56

Previous: 17

Result: Drew 0-0 home to West Brom

Next: At Everton, March 30

Saturday's 0-0 draw at home to West Brom was Stoke's sixth scoreless draw of the season.

14. Norwich City

Michael Regan/Getty Images

Points: 64

Previous: 14

Result: Drew 1-1 at Sunderland

Next: At Wigan, March 30

Norwich suddenly can't stop drawing matches. After earning a hard-fought draw with 10 men at Sunderland—their fifth in seven matches—the Canaries have drawn 13 times this season, joint most in the league (with Stoke, of course).

13. Newcastle United

Stu Forster/Getty Images

Points: 67

Previous: 9

Result: Lost 2-1 at Wigan

Next: At Manchester City, March 30

Newcastle lost the match against Wigan, but a more egregious outcome is the FA's decision not to ban Callum McManaman for that tackle. Filthy, absolutely filthy.

12. Swansea City

Jan Kruger/Getty Images

Points: 71

Previous: 11

Result: Lost 2-0 home to Arsenal

Next: Home to Spurs, March 30

Swansea have lost three of five and have another tough match coming up against Spurs. Regardless of how the season finishes, though, it's been a successful one already for Michael Laudrup and company.

10. (tie) Southampton

Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Points: 79

Previous: 16

Result: Won 3-1 home to Liverpool

Next: Home to Chelsea, March 30

Beating Liverpool was not just glamorous for Southampton; it kept the Saints four points above the drop zone in the suddenly white-hot relegation scrap.

10. (tie) Aston Villa

Ben Hoskins/Getty Images

Points: 79

Previous: 15

Result: Won 3-2 home to QPR

Next: Home to Liverpool, March 31

Villa have won two in a row and three of five. They're out of the relegation zone. Is the sun starting to shine in England's second city?

Sean: All's not lost for Villa, after all. Consecutive wins over relegation rivals will do that.

9. Liverpool

Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Points: 93

Previous: 3

Result: Lost 3-1 at Southampton

Next: At Aston Villa, March 31

In an attempt to answer Sean's question below, we'll cite a couple stats. Liverpool have won two or more games in a row three times this season and have not lost back-to-back matches a single time.

So, in other words, maybe.

Sean: Is there a more infuriatingly inconsistent team than Liverpool?

8. West Bromwich Albion

Chris Brunskill/Getty Images

Points: 100

Previous: 7

Result: Drew 0-0 at Stoke

Next: At West Ham, March 30

West Brom have been rather inconsistent themselves. The Baggies have won 13 times and lost 12.

7. Fulham

Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

Points: 105

Previous: 10

Result: Won 1-0 at Spurs

Next: Home to QPR, April 1

Dimitar Berbatov has scored 11 goals, tied for 12th place in the league this season. Yeah, we thought his total was higher too.

6. Tottenham Hotspur

Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

Points: 106

Previous: 4

Result: Lost 1-0 home to Fulham

Next: At Swansea, March 30

Spurs have lost back-to-back games in the league and three straight overall. Uh oh.

Dan: At least now Spurs fans know the match they can look back on this season if it all falls apart.

Adam: Where would they be without Gareth Bale? Well, Bale was far from dominant on Sunday in Spurs' loss to Fulham. So...

Sean: So are these those wobbly late-season Spurs that Arsenal fans have been waiting for?

5. Manchester City

Michael Regan/Getty Images

Points: 122

Previous: 2

Result: Lost 2-0 at Everton

Next: Home to Newcastle, March 30

Now that the title challenge is really, really, definitely over, expect City to focus on the FA Cup—and clearing out the squad this summer.

Adam: They're not going to catch United, but when Joe Hart is at his best, City still may be the most solid side in England front to back. Of course, Hart has been ehhhhhh for much of the campaign.

4. Everton

Michael Regan/Getty Images

Points: 127

Previous: 8

Result: Won 2-0 home to Manchester City

Next: Home to Stoke, March 30

Is this the late-season push we've come to expect from Everton? If so, it could make for an interesting race for the top four.

Dan: It's insufferable rooting for this team, but rewarding almost all the time.

3. Arsenal

Jan Kruger/Getty Images

Points: 134

Previous: 6

Result: Won 2-0 at Swansea

Next: Home to Reading, March 30

After beating Swansea, Arsenal are four points behind fourth-placed Tottenham with a match in hand.

Sean: Of course Lukasz freakin' Fabianski steps in and inspires consecutive clean sheets for Arsenal. Because that makes perfect sense.

2. Chelsea

Scott Heavey/Getty Images

Points: 144

Previous: 5

Result: Won 2-0 home to West Brom

Next: At Southampton, March 30

Chelsea rank second in the league this season with 58 goals scored. They also hold the league's second-best goal differential (plus-28).

One guess which team ranks first in both categories…

1. Manchester United

Michael Regan/Getty Images

Points: 153

Previous: 1

Result: Won 1-0 home to Reading

Next: At Sunderland, March 30

Who else would it be? United have won six straight and are cruising toward title No. 20.

 

Follow @MikeCummings37