English Premier League Power Poll: Week 26
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.
How It Works
1 of 22Six 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
2 of 22This 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
3 of 22Points: 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
4 of 22Points: 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
5 of 22Points: 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
6 of 22Points: 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
7 of 22Points: 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
8 of 22Points: 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
9 of 22Points: 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
10 of 22Points: 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
11 of 22Points: 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
12 of 22Points: 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
13 of 22Points: 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
14 of 22Points: 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
15 of 22Points: 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
16 of 22Points: 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
17 of 22Points: 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
18 of 22Points: 95
Previous: 3
Sean: Gareth Barry showed some excellent finishing ability for a defender over the weekend. Oh, wait...
4. Arsenal
19 of 22Points: 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
20 of 22Points: 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
21 of 22Points: 112
Previous: 2
Sean: Gareth Bale is excruciatingly good. There, it's been said—a bitter Arsenal supporter
1. Manchester United
22 of 22Points: 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.
