Premier League Power Rankings Week 9: Where Each Club Stands Early in Season

The start of the English Premier League season has seen plenty of surprises, which are reflected in the league table. However, the current standings do not tell you everything.

After only eight matches, certain squads could be the victim of tough matchups or simply bad luck to fall lower in the table than expected. It will take a few more months before we really know which clubs are the best in the league.

Still, the first eight weeks of the season have shown a lot about what to expect for the remainder of the year. Here is an updated look at power rankings going forward for the Premier League.

1. Arsenal

After an opening 3-1 loss to Aston Villa, fans were ready to revolt at Emirates Stadium. However, the club added Mesut Ozil and all of a sudden have one of the top attacks in the league.

In the next seven matches, Arsenal have six wins and a draw to move on top of the table. While this is a surprise, it is not a fluke. 

Aaron Ramsey has been one of the hottest players in the league, while Olivier Giroud has taken big steps offensively as well. Just imagine what will happen when Santi Cazorla and Theo Walcott are at full strength. 

This club entered the year scared of not finishing in the top four, but are all of a sudden the favorite to win the league.

2. Chelsea

The good news for Chelsea is they have already gone through a difficult slate of matches. Road contests at Manchester United, Tottenham and Everton are all out of the way, and the Blues escaped with two draws in that stretch.

If Chelsea can get a win at home against Manchester City on Sunday, they will be in great shape for the remainder of the season.

3. Manchester City

Although Manchester City have been inconsistent this year, there might not be a more talented roster in the league. The defense is solid and the attack is nearly unstoppable with Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko, David Silva, Yaya Toure and others.

The key going forward is doing better on the road, where the club has only has four points in four matches.

4. Liverpool

Between Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez, Liverpool will be difficult to stop. However, the offense has still be silenced a few times this season.

The squad will need to get more production from the rest of the roster in order to contend for a top-four spot this season.

5. Tottenham

After a hot start, Tottenham have suffered a few setbacks lately, none worse than the 3-0 loss at West Ham United. The good news is this is a young club that will continue to get better as the season progresses.

Unfortunately, the players might be too inexperienced to compete at a high level consistently.

6. Manchester United 

Manchester United's struggles remain the biggest mystery of the start of the season. The defending league champions have been awful through eight matches and currently stand in eighth place in the table.

We know that this club is better than it has played thus far. There is world-class talent virtually everywhere on the pitch, and the duo of Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney up front is among the best in Europe.

However, the midfield has struggled to make plays, and something is simply not clicking with new manager David Moyes.

It is too early to give up on the season, but United are certainly panicking at this point.

7. Everton

Everton continue to play a similar role as the past few years. They beat inferior teams while losing matches against clubs that are better.

The strong play of Romelu Lukaku will keep the squad on the top half of the table, but a top-four finish seems out of reach.

8. Southampton

While Manchester United have been the biggest disappointment so far, Southampton has easily been the most pleasant surprise. The squad already has 15 points and stand in sixth place in the league table.

The strength is easily the defense, which has allowed only three goals to lead the league. Still, there might not be enough offense on the roster to remain competitive all year long. 

9. Swansea City

Although Swansea City have run into a tough early schedule, they have won the matches they should against weaker clubs. The concern is that Michu is not producing like he did last season, which is slowing down the entire attack.

Still, the group should be in decent shape with a lot of talent across the pitch.

10. Newcastle United

Yohan Cabaye and Loic Remy keep Newcastle in contention in any match, but the defense has struggled mightily this season with only Sunderland allowing more goals.

Until the defense and goalkeeper Tim Krul start to improve, this squad will once again be in the bottom half of the table.

11. West Bromwich Albion

When you fail to score in half of your matches, it is hard to get too many points. That is the biggest reason for West Brom's struggles to start the year.

However, the club has not lost in five matches despite facing tough competition. This indicates the squad is likely to climb the standings over the next few weeks. 

12. Aston Villa

Considering Aston Villa have already faced the top five teams in the table, they are in decent shape with 10 points. No one else can claim to have wins over both Arsenal and Manchester City, which is something another team might not accomplish all year.

Still, there is plenty of inconsistency, which comes from a below-average midfield that fails to make things happen with the ball. 

Aston Villa has an elite scorer in Christian Benteke and a quality secondary option in Gabriel Agbonlahor. However, it does not help if they do not get the ball enough.

The club has to work on getting more possession and providing their best players with chances to score. Otherwise, this will be another long year.

13. Hull City

Among the three clubs coming up from Championship last season, Hull City have been by far the best. Three wins and two draws has the group currently tied with Manchester United, something that could not have even been dreamed about to start the year.

The club has a hard time scoring against good defenses, though, and will fall back down to earth in the coming weeks.

14.  West Ham United

The win over Tottenham seemed to come out of nowhere, but the truth is that West Ham have one of the more talented back lines in the league. This will keep many opponents from getting on the scoresheet.

If they can find a go-to scorer for the attack, they will be in good shape going forward.

15. Fulham

Although Fulham have not been dominated in any match this year, the club does not do a lot of things well. The attack appears to have gotten worse from last season, while the defense is just as bad.

To make matters worse, there does not seem to be anyone capable of leading the squad to better days. 

16. Stoke City 

As of Tuesday, Stoke will have gone an entire month without scoring a goal. The attack has been shut out of five matches this year and only have four scores this season.

This will ineptitude will lead to many more losses as the year continues.

17. Cardiff City 

Cardiff are capable of pulling off a surprise or two throughout the season, but there will be many more bad days than good ones. Still, a strong performance should keep the club from returning to Championship next season. 

18. Norwich City

The last two matches showed the divide between the best and the rest in the Premier League. Norwich City had chances against both Arsenal and Chelsea, but ended up losing both matches by a combined score of 7-2.

There will likely be a similar result whenever this club faces a top opponent this year. 

19. Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace are simply overmatched in the Premier League, especially with last season's leading scorer Glenn Murray out with a knee injury. Until he returns, the losses will continue to pile up.

20. Sunderland

There are not too many positives to take away from Sunderland's start to the season. The club's one point came on a 1-1 draw against Southampton when it held only 33 percent of possession.

After narrowly avoiding relegation a year ago, Sunderland will likely be facing this fate this time around.

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