English Premier League Power Rankings: Week 18

The only word to describe the past week in the English Premier League is parody.

It all started with Blackburn's upset of Manchester United, then Manchester City and Chelsea both lost on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

As for the other set of 10 fixtures that ended Wednesday, City and Chelsea both bounced back while United dropped another loss and Arsenal fell as well, while Tottenham won.

At the bottom of the table, Wigan lost twice but Blackburn fell to the bottom even with their win over Manchester United. Bolton won a game this week but only could get up to 18th in the table.

As always, last week's ranking is in parenthesis.

20. Wigan (19)

Wigan came up with only one point from their two games this past week.

Ben Watson scored an 87th-minute penalty right after coming off the bench to give the Latics a 2-2 draw with Stoke on New Year's Eve.

The Latics were then taken down by Sunderland at home on Tuesday.

Good news did come for Wigan this week, though, as Connor Sammon's red card was rescinded before the Stoke game.

19. Queens Park Rangers (15)

QPR extended their winless streak to eight games this week with losses to Arsenal and Norwich.

Some controversy came in the Norwich game as Joey Barton was sent off, which gave Norwich the advantage to comeback and beat the Rs, 2-1.

QPR will open their FA Cup campaign on Saturday when they visit MK Dons.

18. Wolverhampton (17)

Wolves took only one point from their two games, but it could have been more.

Against Bolton, Steven Fletcher equalized in the 49th minute but no other goals could be produced.

On Monday against Chelsea, Stephen Ward equalized with six minutes left and it looked like Wolves would take two draws out of their two games but were denied that opportunity after Frank Lampard scored late.

Mick McCarthy's club are now only one point above the relegation zone with 17 points as they sit in 16th place.

17. Bolton (20)

Bolton earned one-fourth of their total points in two games this week with a draw at home against Wolves and then an away win at Everton.

David Ngog and Cary Cahill scored in the 2-1 over Everton on Wednesday while Sam Ricketts scored in the 1-1 draw with Wolves over the weekend.

The Trotters are now up to 18th place with 16 points ahead of their FA Cup road trip to Macclesfield on Saturday.

16. Swansea City (16)

Swansea won late and also took advantage of a club on a emotional high this week.

Scott Sinclair scored late against Tottenham to draw the match 1-1 while they took care of Aston Villa on Monday.

Nathan Dyer and Wayne Routledge both scored in the 2-0 win on the road at Villa Park.

A road trip to Barnsley is ahead for the Swans on Saturday as they enter the FA Cup.

15. Fulham (14)

Fulham faced a ton of late drama that went for and against them this week.

First, the Cottagers were drawn late by Norwich after Orlando Sa scored in the seventh minute of that game.

On Monday, Steve Sidwell and Bobby Zamora powered a two-goal comeback to beat London rivals Arsenal, 2-1.

Their results put the club into 14th place ahead of their FA Cup third-round match with Charlton Athletic at home on Saturday.

14. Blackburn (18)

Blackburn pulled off the upset of the year as they went into Old Trafford and beat Manchester United on New Year's Eve.

Grant Hanley's 80th minute won the match for Blackburn and shocked everyone in England and around the world.

However, Rovers fell to Stoke on Monday with David Goodwillie scoring a consolation goal in the 2-1 loss.

Blackburn will play in an all Premier League match on Saturday in the FA Cup at Newcastle at the Sports Direct Arena.

13. Everton (10)

Everton experienced highs and lows this week as they beat West Brom at the death but then lost to bottom feeders Bolton.

Victor Anichebe scored for the Toffees in the 87th minute to beat West Brom on New Year's Day.

On Wednesday, after goalie Tim Howard scored, David Moyes' club fell to Bolton by a score of 2-1.

Everton will look to get back on track against minnows Tamworth at Goodison Park in the FA Cup on Saturday.

12. Aston Villa (11)

Aston Villa had an emotional high followed by an emotional hangover during their games this week.

The emotional high came at Stamford Bridge on New Year's Eve as they beat Chelsea in the waning moments of the game as Stiliyan Petrov and Darren Bent scored in the last seven minutes to secure a 3-1 victory.

The emotional hangover occurred two days later at Villa Park when the Villains fell to Swansea by a 2-0 score.

The Villains hit the road to start their FA Cup run at Bristol Rovers on Saturday.

11. Norwich City (12)

Norwich came from behind against both Fulham and QPR to earn four points in two games.

Simeon Jackson rescued the Canaries from a loss on New Year's Eve to secure a 1-1 draw with Fulham.

Anthony Pilkington and Steve Morison provided the fireworks on Monday at Loftus Road as the duo's goals beat QPR on the road, 2-1.

With the four points, the Canaries boosted themselves up into ninth place in the table with 25 points.

10. West Brom (7)

After taking seven points out of their last three games, West Brom were unable to snag any in the final two games of the holiday schedule.

A pair of 1-0 losses to Everton and Tottenham started off the new year in a rough manner for the Baggies.

The Baggies sit in 15th place in the table, but they are well ahead of the relegation zone with a six-point gap between themselves and 18th place Bolton.

9. Sunderland (13)

Sunderland pulled off two wins over the week and extended their four-game unbeaten streak in style.

Ji-Dong Won scored on the last kick against Manchester City to give the Black Cats the best possible start to the new year with a 1-0 win over the league leaders.

The Black Cats then responded to their win over City with a thumping of Wigan on Tuesday.

Craig Gardner, James McClean, Stephane Sessegnon and David Vaughan scored in the 4-1 romp over Wigan to boost Sunderland into 10th place in the table.

8. Manchester United (1)

Manchester United had the most disastrous week of all 20 Premier League clubs as they lost twice.

First, United fell to Blackburn in a 3-2 upset with goalie David De Gea blamed for miscues on two of Blackburn's goals.

A change in goalie could not help on Wednesday as United were shutout on the road at Newcastle.

The Red Devils have to get back on track as their huge game with Manchester City on Sunday happens in the FA Cup third round.

7. Stoke City (8)

Stoke were one of the more successful teams this week as they took four points from their two games.

It could have been six points but the Potters were equalized by a penalty late against Wigan on New Year's Eve.

Stoke's start to 2012 was good as Peter Crouch scored twice on the road at Blackburn in the Potters' eighth win of the season.

Manager Tony Pulis goes back to former club Gillingham on Saturday in the FA Cup third round.

6. Newcastle (9)

After falling to Liverpool on Friday in their final game of 2011, Newcastle came back to start 2012 strong by beating Manchester United at home on Wednesday.

Terrific goals from Demba Ba and Yohan Cabaye gave the Magpies the lead, and with an own goal by Phil Jones added, the final score was 3-0.

Ba's goal gave him 14 on the season already as he prepares to leave for the African Cup of Nations in a week or so.

The Magpies play Blackburn at home on Saturday in the FA Cup third round.

5. Chelsea (6)

Chelsea rebounded from a 3-1 home loss to Aston Villa on New Year's Eve with a hard fought win over Wolves on Monday.

Frank Lampard rescued the Blues from another drop of points as he scored in the 89th minute to give the club a 2-1 win on the road.

The win ended a four-game winless streak and gave the Blues positive momentum into their FA Cup third round match at home with Portsmouth in the rematch of the 2010 FA Cup final.

4. Arsenal (5)

Arsenal were on the winning and losing end of their two games this week.

Robin van Persie was able to give Arsenal a win with his 60th minute goal, his 17th in the league this season, to beat QPR on New Year's Eve.

The Gunners fell to Fulham in a tough loss that saw the Gunners give up two goals in the last 10 minutes as they fell 2-1 at Craven Cottage.

Arsenal will now play host to Leeds United in the final game of the FA Cup third round on Monday.

3. Liverpool (4)

Liverpool split their two games over the past week starting with a 3-1 win over Newcastle on Friday.

Craig Bellamy scored twice and Steven Gerrard scored once to give the Reds a win before heading to Manchester to take on Manchester City.

The trip to the Etihad Stadium was unsuccessful as Liverpool fell 3-0 to the league leaders.

Still stuck in sixth place, Kenny Dalglish and company will host Oldham Athletic in the FA Cup third round's first game on Friday.

2. Tottenham (3)

Tottenham took four points out of the six available this week.

It could have been a full six points if it was not for Swansea's Scott Sinclair who equalized Spurs on New Year's Eve.

Jermain Defoe was the hero for Spurs on Tuesday as his 63rd-minute goal gave the club a 1-0 win over West Brom.

In the FA Cup, Cheltenham will visit White Hart Lane to play Spurs on Saturday.

1. Manchester City (2)

Manchester City experienced shock and then recovered pretty well from it during their two games this week.

City fell to Sunderland on New Year's Day in the last minute before beating Liverpool at home on Tuesday.

Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure and James Milner scored one goal each in the win which put City three points ahead of Manchester United, after United lost twice this week.

Ahead for Roberto Mancini's club is the Manchester derby in the third round of the FA Cup on Sunday.