Premier League Table 2013 Week 9: Predicting Which Clubs Will Rise and Fall

Fans shouldn't get used to how the 2013 English Premier League table looks in Week 9, because it won't stay that way.

Through eight matches (for most clubs), several sides have over- and underachieved, but they will eventually turn their seasons around—for better or for worse.

Here is an updated EPL table and the teams that will be on the rise and fall in the near future.

Position	Team	Played	W	D	L	Points
1.	Arsenal	8	6	1	1	19
2.	Chelsea	8	5	2	1	17
3.	Liverpool	8	5	2	1	17
4.	Manchester City	8	5	1	2	16
5.	Tottenham	8	5	1	2	16
5.	Southampton	8	4	3	1	15
6.	Everton	8	4	3	1	15
8.	Manchester United	8	3	2	3	11
9.	Hull City	8	3	2	3	11
10.	Newcastle	8	3	2	3	11
11.	Swansea City	8	3	1	4	10
12.	West Bromwich Albion	8	2	4	2	10
13.	Aston Villa	8	3	1	4	10
14.	West Ham United	8	2	2	4	8
15.	Stoke City	8	2	2	4	8
16.	Cardiff City	8	2	2	4	8
17.	Fulham	7	2	1	4	7
18.	Norwich City	8	2	1	5	7
19.	Crystal Palace	7	1	0	6	3
20.	Sunderland	8	0	1	7	1

Clubs That Will Rise

2. Southampton

Sitting at No. 6, the Saints are on the outside looking in at the qualifying seeds, but if their defense keeps playing like it has been, it won’t be by season’s end. They shut out their last two opponents, Crystal Palace and Swansea City, and held the (once) mighty Manchester United offense to one goal in a 1-1 draw. 

Southampton’s next three matches are against clubs—Fulham, Stoke City and Hull City—with mediocre-to-subpar records, so expect its defense, which has allowed a league-low three goals this season, to maintain its dominance.

1. Manchester United

History says that odds are heavily in the Red Devils’ favor to finish higher than eighth in the EPL table. They haven’t finished the season lower than second since 2005 and lower than third since 1992. Man Utd will also play two mediocre opponents, Stoke City and Fulham, before its highly anticipated showdown against Arsenal on Nov. 10.

Clubs That Will Fall

2. Liverpool

Liverpool is a talented club, but it doesn’t have the firepower to hold off Manchester City—another team that will be on the rise—for a top-three spot in the table. That may sound silly with Daniel Sturridge leading the EPL with seven goals scored, but Man City as a team has already scored seven more goals than Liverpool this season (through only eight matches!). Liverpool won’t hold onto that one-point lead over the highest-scoring club in the league forever.

1. Hull City

Hull City should enjoy its time in the upper half of the EPL table, because it has overachieved thus far. Its negative-two goal differential is the second-worst out of the top 14 teams in the league. The offensively superior Swansea City, which has scored five more goals than Hull City, as well as the defensively superior West Bromwich Albion, which has surrendered three fewer goals, will leapfrog it eventually. 

David Daniels is a breaking news writer at Bleacher Report and news editor at Wade-O Radio.

Follow @TheRealDDaniels