English Premier League Power Poll: Week 4

Chelsea still rule England, but the chasing pack is catching up.

Another week of the B/R English Premier Power Poll means another week at the top for Chelsea, but this week Manchester United siphoned off a couple first-place votes.

How close did United come to taking Chelsea's place? Keep reading to find out.

Methodology

For these rankings, we instructed the voters to vote based on the "power rankings" style.

That means voters cast their ballots based on which teams they think are best. Results and table position both matter, but the most important factor was which teams are best.

Eight B/R personalities voted in this week's poll, and all the votes were counted on a points system. A first-place vote counted as 20 points, a second-place vote as 19 and so on.

 

Explanation of terms

Points: The total number of points the team received via our voters' rankings. A first-place vote counted as 20 points, a second-place vote as 19 and so on.

Last-place votes: The number of last-place votes the team received from our voters.

First-place votes: The number of first-place votes the team received from our voters.

Last time: The team's ranking in the previous poll.

Table: The team's position in the English Premier League table, along with current points total. Click here for the full table.

Results: The team's results since our last rankings.

Fixtures: The team's upcoming matches.

Meet the Voters

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

John Greely: B/R front-page editor. @johnwgreely

Adam Hirshfield: B/R deputy editor. @ahirshfield

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

Brad Read: B/R world football newsletter. @ReadBrad

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. @MikeCummings37

20. Southampton

Points: 9

Last-place votes: 7

Last time: 18

Table: 20th, 0 points

Results: Lost 6-1 at Arsenal

Fixtures: Home to Aston Villa, Saturday

It can only get better, right? You can't play the top three every week, right?

Sean: OK, maybe they are who we thought they were. (Mike's note: Who's gonna let them off the hook?)

19. Reading

Points: 15

Last-place votes: 1

Last time: 17

Table: 19th, 1 point

Results: Lost 3-1 home to Spurs

Fixtures: At West Brom, Saturday

Reading went approximately 37 years between league matches and looked understandably rusty against Spurs. Will they fare any better against West Brom this weekend?

18. Queens Park Rangers

Points: 31

Last time: 20

Table: 18th, 2 points

Results: Drew 0-0 home to Chelsea

Fixtures: At Spurs, Sunday

The conventional wisdom about QPR is that they will continue to improve. Their new-look lineup, especially the midfield, has too much talent to be stuck in the relegation zone.

This weekend, Rangers get another chance to prove it. They travel to Tottenham on Sunday.

17. Norwich City

Points: 36

Last time: 15

Table: 16th, 3 points

Results: Drew 0-0 home to West Ham

Fixtures: At Newcastle, Sunday

All three of those points come from draws, and in fact, Norwich have only lost one of their four matches so far.

In other words, since that opening-day mauling at the hands of Fulham, Norwich's season hasn't exactly been a disaster. It just hasn't been anything memorable either.

15. (tie) Liverpool

Points: 41

Last time: 16

Table: 17th, 2 points

Results: Drew 1-1 at Sunderland

Fixtures: Home to Manchester United, Sunday

The nightmare start continues, though Brendan Rodgers' Reds looked better in the second half against Sunderland.

A bigger challenge rolls into town Sunday, though.

Sean: Liverpool's start is ominously similar to Arsenal's of last season. Call us skeptical that Luis Suarez will be able to pull a Van Persie and bring them all the way back.

John: It can only get better for Liverpool. Then again, they've been saying that for years now. 

15. (tie) Wigan Athletic

Points: 41

Last time: 10

Table: 14th, 4 points

Results: Lost 4-0 at Man United

Fixtures: Home to Fulham, Saturday

Our voters were unimpressed with Wigan's 4-0 defeat at Old Trafford and dropped the Latics five spots.

Wigan could move right back up next week, though. Fulham, who are notoriously poor travelers, visit this weekend.

14. Sunderland

Points: 56.5

Last time: 13

Table: 15th, 3 points

Results: Drew 1-1 home to Liverpool

Fixtures: At West Ham, Saturday

Another draw for Sunderland! That's a new one. Should we go ahead and pencil in another for West Ham's visit this weekend?

Oh, and 56.5 points? John couldn't separate draw kings Sunderland and Stoke, so he voted them into a tie on his ballot.

John: I've got Sunderland and Stoke tied in my rankings. It's only fair.

13. Aston Villa

Points: 66

Last time: 19

Table: 13th, 4 points

Results: Won 2-0 home to Swansea

Fixtures: At Southampton, Saturday

Villa win one match and move up six whole spots in our rankings. How about that?

Another movement-filled week could be coming. The Villans play at rock-bottom Southampton this week.

Aliko: Slowing down Swansea officially gets Villa out of the doghouse.

12. Stoke City

Points: 71.5

Last time: 12

Table: 12th, 4 points

Results: Drew 1-1 home to Man City

Fixtures: At Chelsea, Saturday

The truth, of course, is that Peter Crouch wouldn't look all that out of place in an NBA game.

Another draw for Stoke, and this one was even more predictable. The Potters drew 1-1 at home with Manchester City for the fourth straight time in the fixture.

11. West Ham United

Points: 93

Last time: 8

Table: 8th, 7 points

Results: Drew 0-0 at Norwich

Fixtures: Home to Sunderland, Saturday

Allow Mike a moment to be Grumpy Rankings Compiler Guy:

Yes, West Ham lost. But should they really fall behind Fulham, the team they whipped 3-0 a few weeks ago?!

Rant over.

10. Tottenham Hotspur

Points: 95

Last time: 14

Table: 10th, 5 points

Results: Won 3-1 at Reading

Fixtures: Home to QPR, Sunday

For all their early struggles, Spurs sit only five points off the top of the table.

Will we see more of Clint Dempsey this week?

8. (tie) Newcastle United

Points: 100

Last time: 9

Table: 11th, 5 points

Results: Drew 2-2 at Everton

Fixtures: Home to Norwich, Sunday

Voters punished Newcastle not for drawing, but for deserving to lose against Everton. After all, the Toffees had two perfectly good goals ruled out.

Aliko: At this point, making the goal-line technology argument is like beating a dead horse.

8. (tie) West Bromwich Albion

Points: 100

Last time: Tie-4th

Table: 6th, 7 points

Results: Lost 3-0 at Fulham

Fixtures: Home to Reading, Saturday

West Brom's hot start is over after the Baggies crashed spectacularly at Fulham.

Immediate redemption is possible, though, with Reading in for a visit this weekend.

John: So the Baggies hit a roadblock at Craven Cottage—that'll happen. It doesn't negate good wins vs. Liverpool and Everton and a road draw vs. Tottenham.

7. Fulham

Points: 104

Last time: 11

Table: 9th, 6 points

Results: Won 3-0 home to West Brom

Fixtures: At Wigan, Saturday

Don't get too excited. Last season Fulham collected 35 points at home compared to only 17 on their travels.

This season seems to be following a similar pattern. And, again, the Cottagers were whipped by West Ham just a few weeks ago.

Still, Dimitar Berbatov had a nice game over the weekend with two goals.

6. Swansea City

Points: 105

Last time: Tie-4th

Table: 5th, 7 points

Results: Lost 2-0 at Aston Villa

Fixtures: Home to Everton, Saturday

Swansea, like West Brom, crashed to defeat over the weekend after a hot start. Some might argue that losing to Aston Villa is worse than losing to Fulham, but our voters didn't see it that way.

The Swans dropped just two places, compared to four for West Brom.

Sean: Swans were going to crash down to reality eventually. But their scintillating start was no fluke; they're here to stay.

5. Everton

Points: 124

Last time: 6 (tie)

Table: 7th, 7 points

Results: Drew 2-2 home to Newcastle

Fixtures: At Swansea, Saturday

Everton got jobbed by the refs against Newcastle. If you don't know what that means, read all about it here.

Even so, the draw can't mask how well the Toffees have been playing.

Aliko: In my heart, I'm counting Anichebe's disallowed goal.

John: I'm just gonna go ahead and treat that Newcastle match as a Toffees win. I know what I saw.

Sean: Highly unlucky Toffees should be sitting in third place. Either way, supporters have to love Everton's early form.

4. Manchester City

Points: 136

Last time: 2

Table: 4th, 8 points

Results: Drew 1-1 at Stoke

Fixtures: Home to Arsenal, Sunday

It's a tough patch for the champions, who drew with Stoke (again) before losing a heartbreaker to Real Madrid in the Champions League.

Roberto Mancini's team received all eight fourth-place votes, making them a "perfect" choice in fourth.

3. Arsenal

Points: 146

Last time: 6 (tie)

Table: 3rd, 8 points

Results: Won 6-1 home to Southampton

Fixtures: At Man City, Sunday

Voters really liked the Gunners' demolition of Southampton, but now comes the real test: Manchester City away this weekend.

Dan: They finally gave up a goal. Losers.

2. Manchester United

Points: 153

First-place votes: 2

Last time: 3

Table: 2nd, 9 points

Results: Won 4-0 home to Wigan

Fixtures: At Liverpool, Sunday

United moved up to second in the table and stole two first-place votes in our poll with that 4-0 victory over Wigan.

Now it's off to Anfield for rivalry week.

1. Chelsea

Points: 157

First-place votes: 6

Last time: 1

Weeks atop poll: 3

Table: 1st, 10 points

Results: Drew 0-0 at QPR

Fixtures: Home to Stoke, Saturday

Chelsea disappointed in a scoreless draw at QPR but remained atop both the table and our rankings.

A home date with Stoke awaits. So, then, another draw?

Follow @MikeCummings37