English Premier League Power Rankings: Week 6
This week in the Premier League, West Brom delivered a shocking blow to Arsenal with a 3-2 win at the Emirates, and Manchester City took down Chelsea 1-0 to boost their potential to contend for a title.
Manchester United failed to take advantage of the losses by the London clubs and drew 2-2 with Bolton.
2-1 was a popular result for three teams, Aston Villa, Stoke, and Blackburn, who all notched wins this week as well.
20. Wolverhampton (20)
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Wolves should have gotten three points at home on Sunday but instead a late Emile Heskey goal gave Mick McCarthy's men a loss that should not have been.
Wolves now have two straight games against Wigan and West Ham, and the results of those two games could lead their season in a positive or negative direction.
19. Blackpool (17)
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The Tangerines tied their home game with Blackburn at 1-all with a Matthew Phillips goal.
But a late goal by Blackburn's Brett Emerton sent Ian Holloway's team to the same fate that Wolves were subjected to.
The next three games will be tough to get points from with Liverpool, Manchester City, and Birmingham next on the schedule.
18. Newcastle United (16)
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Newcastle met the same result that the two teams behind them in the rankings did, but it happened to the Magpies in a different way.
James Perch's 85th minute own goal gave Stoke a 2-1 win at St. James' Park.
Although Chris Hughton's team is still 10th in the table, they are tied with five other teams on seven points, and with a trip to the City of Manchester Stadium awaiting them next week, they could find themselves near the bottom half of the table soon.
17. Everton (10)
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Everton are at the bottom of the Premier League table even after a draw at Craven Cottage with Fulham and the pressure is growing on David Moyes.
Although not many rumors have come out about his firing, Moyes could end up being the first manager sacked if things are not turned around on the blue side of Liverpool quickly.
16. Wigan (18)
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Roberto Martinez's team played in a snoozer at Birmingham where a 0-0 draw was the result.
Wigan did get a point out of the weekend and with a win against Wolves at the DW Stadium, the Latics could find themselves far from the drop zone with the right results.
15. Liverpool (9)
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Liverpool are close to being in crisis mode.
16th place in the table is not where Roy Hodgson or any Liverpool player or supporter wants to be, but that is the reality.
After being knocked out of the Carling Cup by Northampton in midweek and then failing to score a third and game-winning goal at home against Sunderland on Saturday, the Reds head to the Netherlands to face Utrecht in the Europa League and then play Blackpool at home to try and get their EPL season back on track.
14. West Ham (19)
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The first point of the season came last week and was followed this week with the first win of the season for the Hammers.
Frederic Puquionne scored in the 29th minute at Upton Park to beat Tottenham 1-0 on Saturday.
A game with fellow Londoners, Fulham, awaits next week at Upton Park.
13. Blackburn (15)
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Brett Emerton gave Rovers a full three points on their visit to Blackpool Saturday with a 90th minute goal.
Sam Allardyce's team are now in the top half of the table and will look to improve on their form with a win over Stoke next weekend.
12. Stoke City (14)
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The Potters were the beneficiary of a James Perch own goal that gave them a 2-1 win over Newcastle on Sunday.
Kenwyne Jones scored his third goal of the season as the record signing continues to score for Tony Pulis and company.
11. Tottenham (5)
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After a 4-1 loss to rivals Arsenal in the Carling Cup during the week, the hangover of the loss continued with a 1-0 loss at Upton Park to London rivals West Ham.
Now, Spurs have to focus on winning quick with a Champions League game at home versus Twente on Wednesday and then an EPL stretch that has Aston Villa, Fulham, Everton, and Manchester United on the schedule for the next four games.
10. Bolton (11)
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The Trotters took a point from Manchester United at the Reebok Stadium on Sunday with 2-2 draw.
Zat Knight got the scoring going with a sixth minute goal off a corner.
Martin Petrov also got on the board to put Bolton up again in the 67th minute, but United ended up tying the game in the 74th minute thanks to Michael Owen.
9. Sunderland (8)
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Sunderland should have beaten Liverpool on Saturday, but thanks to a mistake by referee Stuart Attwell that allowed Dirk Kuyt the first goal for Liverpool, the game was a 2-2 draw.
Darren Bent added two more to his tally of five goals this season by finding the back of the net on a penalty in the 25th minute and then again in the 48th minute.
8. West Brom (13)
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Continuing on their impressive form of the last few weeks with the shocking result of the weekend beating Arsenal 3-2 at the Emirates.
Peter Odemwingie, Gonzalo Jara, and Jerome Thomas all scored to give the Baggies the lead.
It looked scary for the last 15 minutes when Samir Nasri struck home two late goals, but it was not enough for Arsenal to come back and beat Roberto di Matteo's sixth place team.
A home game with Bolton now awaits the Baggies on Saturday.
7. Birmingham (6)
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The Blues got a draw out of a boring game with Wigan at St. Andrews.
The 0-0 draw included a red card for Craig Gardner in the 89th minute.
Birmingham next face struggling Everton at home on Saturday.
6. Arsenal (4)
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The Gunners need a solution in goal and they need it fast.
Manuel Almunia conceded another easy goal to Gonzalo Jara on Saturday and is now sitting out the next match in the Champions League against Partizan Belgrade this week.
A bright spot for Arsene Wenger was the fact that Samir Nasri recorded a double in the second half to make the score line a bit more forgiving.
5. Aston Villa (12)
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Gerard Houllier's first game in charge of Aston Villa was in doubt of getting three points until Emile Heskey's powerful header in the 88th minute found the back of the net to give Villa a 2-1 over Wolves.
With Heskey and Houllier reunited, who knows what this will do to Heskey's psyche and hopefully for the Villains, it will give them tons of momentum to challenge for a European spot.
4. Fulham (3)
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Mark Schwarzer was impressive for the Cottagers in goal in their 0-0 draw at home with Everton.
Mark Hughes' team is still undefeated and with the results this weekend, they are only one of two teams left without a loss—the other is Manchester United.
3. Chelsea (1)
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Chelsea's first big game against a possible title contender this season was against Manchester City and it was not their day.
A 1-0 loss to City broke the five game unbeaten streak to start the season for Carlo Ancelotti and company.
Chelsea now has two big home games next on the schedule, one with Marseille in the Champions League and then a London derby match with Arsenal on Sunday.
2. Manchester United (2)
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The Red Devils dropped points at Bolton on Sunday in a 2-2 draw that still leaves them trailing Chelsea by three points in the league table.
Nani had a brilliant 23rd minute goal and Michael Owen netted a 74th minute equalizer but that was all the goals that United could manage.
Also a concern for Sir Alex Ferguson is that Ryan Giggs walked off with a hamstring injury and could be out for at least a couple weeks.
1. Manchester City (7)
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Manchester City won their first big test of the season with a win over Chelsea at home, thanks to a Carlos Tevez 59th minute goal.
City's win over Chelsea, plus the less than impressive performances by the other title contenders, skyrocketed City to the top of the rankings.
Roberto Mancini's team now faces Juventus at home on Thursday in the Europa League, followed by an EPL game at home with Newcastle.
