English Premier League Power Poll: Week 36

Michael CummingsMay 9, 2013

Sir Alex Ferguson is calling it quits, and without him the Premier League won't be the same. But it will keep going, and so will the B/R English Premier League Power Poll.

Chelsea and Tottenham played the big match this week in a Wednesday night showdown. How did their result affect our rankings?

Keep reading to find out.

How It Works

1 of 22

Nine 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

Sam Tighe: B/R world football tactical analyst. @stighefootball

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

Complete Rankings

2 of 22

1. Chelsea

2. Manchester City

3. Manchester United

4. Arsenal

5. Tottenham Hotspur

6. Everton

7. Liverpool

8. Aston Villa

9. Swansea City

10. West Ham United

11. Stoke City

12. West Bromwich Albion

13. Southampton

14. Sunderland

15. Fulham

16. Newcastle United

17. Wigan Athletic

18. Reading

19. Norwich City

20. Queens Park Rangers

3 of 22

Points: 12

Previous: 19

Result: Lost 1-0 home to Arsenal

Fixtures: Home to Newcastle, Sunday; at Liverpool, May 19

QPR have gone seven matches without winning. Not that it matters. Rangers are officially relegated.

Sean: 'Arry will be doing plenty of wheelin' and dealin' (NSFW), all right: selling all his lofty-waged players back to the Premier League.

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19. Norwich City

4 of 22

Points: 37

Previous: 15

Result: Lost 2-1 home to Aston Villa

Fixtures: Home to West Brom, Sunday; at Man City, May 19

Norwich have lost three of four and have won just twice in their last 19 matches. Relegation is still very much possible.

18. Reading

5 of 22

Points: 38

Previous: 20

Result: Won 4-2 at Fulham

Fixtures: Home to Man City, Tuesday; at West Ham, May 19

Oh, so now Reading decide to win. That victory at Fulham broke Reading's 10-game winless run in league play.

Too bad it came after the Royals were officially doomed to relegation.

17. Wigan Athletic

6 of 22

Points: 39

Previous: 16

Results: Won 3-2 at West Brom; lost 3-2 home to Swansea

Fixtures: At Arsenal, Tuesday; home to Aston Villa, May 19

Wigan showed plenty of heart and attacking verve in Tuesday's loss to Swansea. Unfortunately, they didn't also show much defending talent.

Dan: Maybe Roberto Martinez will be in the Premier League no matter what this year.

16. Newcastle United

7 of 22

Points: 40

Previous: 18

Result: Drew 0-0 at West Ham

Fixtures: At QPR, Sunday; home to Arsenal, May 19

With two matches left, Newcastle have a three-point cushion from the relegation zone. Will it be enough?

Sean: Part of me wants to see them relegated just out of the sheer bizarreness of it.

Dan: I have a feeling, and it's not a good one.

15. Fulham

8 of 22

Points: 48

Previous: 13 (tie)

Result: Lost 4-2 home to Reading

Fixtures: Home to Liverpool, Sunday; at Swansea, May 19

Fulham have lost five of six and are only five points above the relegation zone. Fortunately, though, only two matches remain.

Dan: Goal differential is their best friend right now. That, and Wigan's inability to close at home.

14. Sunderland

9 of 22

Points: 66

Previous: 17

Result: Drew 1-1 home to Stoke

Fixtures: Home to Southampton, Sunday; at Spurs, May 19

Sunderland are one of three teams—Newcastle and Norwich are the others—grouped three points above the final relegation spot. Of the three, the Black Cats have the best goal differential of negative-12.

13. Southampton

10 of 22

Points: 72

Previous: 12

Result: Lost 1-0 at Spurs

Fixtures: At Sunderland, Sunday; home to Stoke, May 19

Southampton have been streaky lately. After a run of three wins, they drew two in a row. Most recently, they've lost two straight.

12. West Bromwich Albion

11 of 22

Points: 81

Previous: 8

Results: Lost 3-2 home to Wigan; lost 1-0 at Man City

Fixtures: At Norwich, Sunday; home to Man United, May 19

West Brom have drawn six matches this season, second-fewest in the league (Manchester United has four).

11. Stoke City

12 of 22

Points: 93

Previous: 10

Result: Drew 1-1 at Sunderland

Fixtures: Home to Spurs, Sunday; at Southampton, May 19

Stoke (11th place) have won only nine matches this season, tied for the fourth-fewest in the league.

10. West Ham United

13 of 22

Points: 97

Previous: 9 (tie)

Result: Drew 0-0 home to Newcastle

Fixtures: At Everton, Sunday; home to Reading, May 19

Sam Allardyce's team assured itself early of another season in the Premier League. Next season will the Hammers be able to build on their solid return to the top flight?

9. Swansea City

14 of 22

Points: 99

Previous: 13 (tie)

Results: Drew 0-0 home to Man City; won 3-2 at Wigan

Fixtures: At Man United, Sunday; home to Fulham, May 19

Swansea and West Brom are the only two teams in the league with a goal differential of zero.

8. Aston Villa

15 of 22

Points: 109

Previous: 9 (tie)

Result: Won 2-1 at Norwich

Fixtures: Home to Chelsea, Saturday; at Wigan, May 19

Aston Villa won again at the weekend, all but ruling out relegation. Over the past few months, the Villans have been perhaps the most entertaining team in the Premier League.

Dan: Congrats to Brad Guzan for being their best player.

7. Liverpool

16 of 22

Points: 128

Previous: 6

Result: Drew 0-0 home to Everton

Fixtures: At Fulham, Sunday; home to QPR, May 19

Liverpool are unbeaten in six matches, but only two of those six have been wins.

6. Everton

17 of 22

Points: 129

Previous: 5

Result: Drew 0-0 at Liverpool

Fixtures: Home to West Ham, Sunday; at Chelsea, May 19

Everton lead Liverpool by five points with two matches left, so it looks like the Toffees will finish above their city rivals for the second straight season.

Dan: It's been nice knowing you, Mr. Moyes (via CNN). Can you take Johnny Heitinga with you?

5. Tottenham Hotspur

18 of 22

Points: 148

Previous: 7

Results: Won 1-0 home to Southampton; drew 2-2 at Chelsea

Fixtures: At Stoke, Sunday; home to Sunderland, May 19

How many times can Gareth Bale bail Tottenham out? They need him a couple more times.

Dan: A vital point at Stamford Bridge, but they could have used three for sure.

Sean: Two late-ditch goals kept their top-four hopes alive—can they (OK, Bale) keep it up?

4. Arsenal

19 of 22

Points: 160

Previous: 4

Result: Won 1-0 at QPR

Fixtures: Home to Wigan, Tuesday; at Newcastle, May 19

With both Wigan and Newcastle still in the relegation scrap, Arsenal's run-in might be tougher than first anticipated.

Sean: Easy run-in. Best form of the season. Two wins and they're in. Still cannot handle—someone wake me up when it's over.

Dan: We're a point away from being on full-blown Wenger Watch.

3. Manchester United

20 of 22

Points: 161

Previous: 1

Result: Lost 1-0 home to Chelsea

Fixtures: Home to Swansea, Sunday; at West Brom, May 19

With Sir Alex Ferguson announcing his retirement on Wednesday, does anyone think Swansea have a chance to win on Sunday in Ferguson's final home match?

Anyway, falling to third here won't hurt. The Red Devils are still champions.

Sean: Respect to Sir Alex, the man is a legend. That said, I'm ecstatic that my Gunners won't have to face a United squad whose strings are being pulled by SAF.

2. Manchester City

21 of 22

Points: 165

Previous: 2

Results: Drew 0-0 at Swansea; won 1-0 home to West Brom

Fixtures: At Reading, Tuesday; home to Norwich, May 19

Is it just us, or has it been an improbably quiet campaign for Manchester City? Something big might be in the works this summer for the mega-money club.