English Premier League Power Rankings: Week 26

On a weekend where Liverpool earned their first trophy since 2006 in the Carling Cup, plenty of other Premier League clubs were making headlines in league play.

The biggest headline from the weekend was Arsenal's 5-2 win over Tottenham in the North London derby.

Another club from London—Chelsea—were able to get back on track with a 3-0 win over Bolton.

Bolton's relegation rivals did not fare so well this weekend either, as QPR and Blackburn both lost, while Wigan and Wolves were able to manage a point.

At the top of the table, Manchester City cruised to victory over Blackburn, while Manchester United needed late heroics from Ryan Giggs to stay two points behind City.

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

20. Bolton (20)

A week after advancing to the FA Cup quarterfinals, Bolton went back to their losing ways in the Premier League as they fell 3-0 to Chelsea.

It was the third straight match that the Trotters have lost, and they have earned just one point in the month of February.

Things will not get much better for Bolton fans as their club has to travel to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday to face Manchester City.

19. Queens Park Rangers (18)

QPR continued their horrible form at home on Saturday with a 1-0 loss to Fulham at Loftus Road.

Only a better goal differential over Blackburn separates Rangers from the relegation zone, a spot that no one thought they would find themselves in after Mark Hughes took over as manager.

One week before a crucial relegation clash with Bolton, QPR will host Everton at Loftus Road on Saturday.

18. Blackburn (16)

Blackburn were shutout by Manchester City for the second time this season on Saturday.

In the 3-0 loss on the road in Manchester, Rovers gave up one goal less than their loss to the league leaders in October.

Steve Kean and company face a crucial stretch coming up in March, with both Wolves and Bolton on the schedule towards the end of the month.

They start it off at home against Aston Villa on Saturday.

17. Wigan (17)

Wigan's decent February form continued on Saturday as they were able to play to a 0-0 draw with Aston Villa.

The Latics took five points from their three February league matches—moving to 20 points— which has them level on points with 19th place Bolton.

Sitting in last place, like they have been for most of the season, Wigan will look to continue their form into March as they host Swansea on Saturday at the DW Stadium.

16. Wolverhampton (19)

Wolves showed a ton of fight on Saturday in their first match under new manager Terry Connor.

His interim tag was removed late last week before the 2-2 draw at Newcastle, as the club could not find a replacement for Mick McCarthy.

Matthew Jarvis and Kevin Doyle scored the two goals for Wolves in their comeback to secure them a point on a weekend where their relegation rivals could not secure a single point.

15. Aston Villa (14)

Aston Villa's recent poor form continued at the DW Stadium on Saturday, as they played to a scoreless draw with Wigan.

The biggest headline coming from the match was the injury to Darren Bent, who will be out for England's friendly against the Netherlands on Wednesday.

The Villains are still safe from the relegation race at the moment—in 15th place with 29 points—and are seven points ahead of 16th place Wolves.

14. Sunderland (11)

Sunderland suffered their second-straight league loss on Saturday, blown out 4-0 by West Brom.

The Black Cats sit atop a four-way tie in the table at 33 points, in ninth place ahead of the Tyne-Wear derby on Sunday at Newcastle.

13. Swansea City (12)

Swansea fell to Stoke on the road on Sunday in a 2-0 defeat.

The loss dropped the Swans down to 14th in the table with 30 points.

A trip to the DW Stadium on Saturday to face Wigan is up next for the club.

12. Stoke City (15)

After being knocked out of the Europa League on Thursday, Stoke responded with a 2-0 win over Swansea on Sunday.

Matthew Upson and Peter Crouch scored first-half goals for the Potters in the home win at the Britannia Stadium.

The win boosted the club up to 12th place in the table ahead of their home match with Norwich on Saturday.

11. Fulham (13)

Fulham continued their domination of QPR this season with 1-0 victory on the road on Saturday.

The Cottagers won at home over their fellow London rivals by a 6-0 scoreline the first time the two teams met.

January signing Pavel Pogrebynak scored his second goal in as many games to give Martin Jol and company their eighth win of the season.

10. Newcastle United (9)

Newcastle's early lead on Saturday was blown in the second half as they drew 2-2 with Wolves at home.

Papiss Cisse and Jonas Gutierrez scored goals for the Magpies in the first half before they lost the lead.

Alan Pardew and company now sit three points behind Chelsea and Arsenal in sixth in their battle for the final Champions League spot and a fourth-place finish.

9. Everton (7)

Everton were the only Premier League club to have off this weekend after their Merseyside derby clash with Liverpool was postponed due to Liverpool's appearance in the Carling Cup final.

The Toffees will now bounce back into league play on Saturday when they visit QPR at Loftus Road.

8. West Brom (10)

West Brom put a thrashing on Sunderland on Saturday with a 4-0 win.

Peter Odemwingie extended his club leading goal total to nine on the season after scoring twice at The Hawthorns.

James Morrison and Keith Andrews also scored in the win for the 13th-place Baggies.

7. Norwich City (6)

Everything looked to being going well at Carrow Road on Sunday until Norwich were beaten in the last minute by Ryan Giggs and Manchester United.

Grant Holt had scored an equalizer in the 83rd minute before Giggs won the match for United, 2-1.

The Canaries will look to bounce back from their ninth loss of the season on Saturday when they visit Stoke on Saturday.

6. Tottenham (3)

Tottenham were caught off guard by their North London rivals, Arsenal, on Sunday as they gave up five-unanswered goals in their 5-2 loss.

Louis Saha and Emmanuel Adebayor scored in the first half for Spurs, but then it all went downhill as their rivals added misery to Tottenham with every goal.

The loss officially knocked Spurs out of the championship race as they sit 10 points behind Manchester City in third.

Next up for Harry Redknapp and company is a visit from Manchester United to White Hart Lane on Sunday.

5. Liverpool (8)

Liverpool won their first trophy since 2006 on Sunday as they beat Cardiff 3-2 in a penalty shootout to win the Carling Cup.

The match ended at 2-2 after extra time, with Martin Skrtel and Dirk Kuyt both scoring for the Reds.

They will now jump back into league play on Saturday as they host to Arsenal at Anfield.

4. Chelsea (5)

Chelsea responded well after being beaten in the Champions League on Tuesday, taking care of business in their 3-0 win over Bolton.

David Luiz, Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard all scored in the second half to hand the Blues win number 13 on the season.

More importantly, the win keeps the club level on points with Arsenal at 46 in the race for fourth place, although Arsenal leads Chelsea by way of goals scored at the moment.

3. Arsenal (4)

Arsenal embarrassed their North London rivals Tottenham on Sunday in a 5-2 win at the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners scored five-unanswered goals to seal the victory.

Bacary Sagna opened the scoring and was followed by goals from Robin van Persie and Tomas Rosicky, while Theo Walcott scored a double in the second half.

The win boosted the club up to fourth place in the table over Chelsea on goals scored ahead of their trip to Anfield on Saturday to face Liverpool.

2. Manchester United (2)

Ryan Giggs played the role of hero in his 900th appearance for Manchester United on Sunday.

He scored the winning goal in the 90th minute against Norwich to win the match by a 2-1 scoreline.

Paul Scholes scored United's first goal in the seventh minute at Carrow Road.

A road trip to London to face Tottenham at White Hart Lane on Sunday lies ahead for the second place club.

1. Manchester City (1)

Manchester City cruised to their third-straight victory on Saturday as they beat Blackburn 3-0.

Mario Balotelli, Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko were the goal scorers for the Citizens at the Etihad Stadium.

Before they face yet another Portuguese club, Sporting Lisbon, in the Europa League next Thursday, the club will host Bolton on Saturday in league action as they look to keep their two point lead in the standings over Manchester United.