English Premier League Power Rankings: Week 27
This week in the Premier League, the leaders looked vulnerable, relegation fighters kept getting stronger and three games featured five or more goals.
Manchester United were beaten by Chelsea and Liverpool this week, and their lead is only three points now.
West Ham and Wolverhampton continued their positive form trying to get out of the relegation zone with points; Wolves being more surprising by drawing Spurs at home.
The Wolves-Spurs ended in a 3-3 draw, while two other games ended in 3-2 results as Fulham beat Blackburn, and Bolton took down Aston Villa.
20. Wigan (20)
1 of 20
Wigan stayed at the bottom of the table this week after Ali Al-Habsi's howler in the first half against Manchester City.
Al-Habsi let the ball slide right through his legs to give City the 1-0 win.
The Latics have not scored a Premier League in 215 minutes and will have to wait until the 19th to break that streak when they host Birmingham at the DW Stadium.
19. Blackburn (19)
2 of 20
Goals from Grant Hanley and David Hoilett were not enough to give Blackburn a win over Fulham on Saturday.
Rovers lost on a late penalty made by Bobby Zamora to keep Steve Kean and company in the relegation battle as they sit only two points above the drop zone.
18. Blackpool (17)
3 of 20
Two weeks after a devastating loss to Wolves, Blackpool could not turn it around and lost to Chelsea by a score of 3-1.
The loss did not have any affect on the Tangerines in the table as they still sit in 15th place ahead of West Brom on goal difference.
The Tangerines will embark on their relegation battle on March 19th when they visit Ewood Park to play Blackburn.
17. Birmingham (5)
4 of 20
Less than a week after enjoying Cup success, the Blues found themselves back in the relegation battle, and the result was not so successful.
The loss to West Brom on Saturday put Birmingham into 18th place.
Now, officially in the drop zone, the Blues will look to have more cup success, this time in the FA Cup, against Bolton on Saturday so that they can enjoy some sense of achievement in an otherwise disappointing season.
16. West Brom (18)
5 of 20
Youssuf Mulumbu, James Morrison and Paul Scharner all scored goals in the Baggies 3-1 win over Birmingham on Saturday.
The win added to the club's four-game unbeaten streak, and it also pulled them out of the drop zone and up to 16th place.
After a week off, Roy Hodgson and company face a tough five-game stretch where they will face Arsenal, Liverpool, Sunderland, Chelsea and Tottenham.
15. Newcastle (14)
6 of 20
Leon Best opened the scoring for Newcastle in their game against Everton, but they could not hold the lead as they fell by the score of 2-1.
The Magpies still sit in ninth place on 36 points, but they are only six points ahead of the drop zone, so they need to keep up some good form.
They will look to get back on form as they travel to Stoke on March 19th.
14. Stoke (11)
7 of 20
Stoke were shut out on their travels to Upton Park on Saturday.
The 3-0 loss added to the Potters' four-game winless streak, in which they have only gotten one point and have dropped to 12th in the table.
Tony Pulis and company will look to get some revenge on West Ham as the two teams play in the FA Cup quarterfinals at the Brittania Stadium on Sunday.
13. Sunderland (16)
8 of 20
Sunderland held Arsenal to a goalless draw in London on Saturday.
The draw did break the Black Cats four-game losing streak, but it did extend their winless streak to five.
Even with the poor string of form, Steve Bruce's club are still in eighth place in the table, and they will face sixth placed Liverpool in their next game on March 20th at the Stadium of Light.
12. Wolverhampton (15)
9 of 20
Steven Fletcher's 87th minute equalizer gave Wolves an unexpected point against Tottenham.
The 3-3 goal fest saw Kevin Doyle score the other two goals for Wolves in the home draw on Saturday.
Since their win over Manchester United at the beginning of February, Wolves have only lost once, and they have scored 10 goals in the five-game stretch that have seen the club get only two points from jumping out of the relegation zone.
11. Aston Villa (9)
10 of 20
Villa's one-goal lead with 25 minutes left became a one-goal defeat at full time against Bolton.
Darren Bent and Marc Albrighton scored goals to put the Villains ahead, but their defense could not stop the Bolton attack on Saturday.
The loss came after a midweek loss in the FA Cup to Manchester City to eliminate the Villains' hope of matching their cross-town rivals in Birmingham with a cup trophy this season.
10. West Ham (13)
11 of 20
What has gotten into the Hammers in the past few weeks?
All of a sudden, the club looks like a quality mid table club that can survive the relegation fight.
In their last six games, the Hammers have only lost once, drawn twice and won three times, including their Saturday win over Stoke.
January signing Demba Ba scored his fourth goal for the club the open the scoring with Manuel Da Costa and Thomas Hitzlsperger also scoring.
Avram Grant and company will look to continue the hot streak against the same side that they beat over the weekend, Stoke, in the FA Cup quarterfinals on Sunday.
9. Fulham (12)
12 of 20
Bobby Zamora's 89th-minute penalty clinched the victory for Fulham at home against Blackburn on Saturday.
The Craven Cottage crowd were treated to a five-goal thriller in which Damien Duff scored a double for the Cottagers before Zamora's game winner.
With the return of Zamora, the Cottagers get a needed boost to their attacking front as they look to finish in the top half of the table; they are currently in 11th.
8. Arsenal (8)
13 of 20
Arsenal were held to a goalless draw at home by Sunderland on Saturday.
The Gunners had chances to score but just could not capitalize.
The busy schedule continues for Arsene Wenger and company as they travel to Barcelona on Tuesday in the Champions League and then visit Old Trafford on Saturday to take on Manchester United in the FA Cup quarterfinals.
7. Bolton (10)
14 of 20
Ivan Klasnic scored in the 86th minute to give Bolton the win at the Reebok Stadium over Aston Villa.
Before Klasnic's winner, Gary Cahill scored twice at home to move his goal total from one to three.
Bolton's great run of form this season will hopefully be continued in Birmingham on Saturday in the FA Cup quarterfinal match.
6. Everton (7)
15 of 20
After falling to Reading in the FA Cup at midweek, Everton rebounded with a road win at Newcastle.
Leon Osman and Phil Jagielka scored to give the Toffees the 2-1 win.
Now, up to 10th in the table, the club play three straight EPL home games starting with Wednesday's match with Birmingham.
5. Tottenham (4)
16 of 20
Tottenham were denied a full three points at the Molineux Stadium on Saturday.
Up by a goal late, an 87th-minute equalizer by Wolves' Steven Fletcher dashed Spurs hopes of breaking away from Chelsea in the battle for fourth place.
The 3-3 draw did see two goals from Jermain Defoe and a goal from Roman Pavlyuchenko.
The focus of Spurs now turns to the big Champions League clash with AC Milan at White Hart Lane on Wednesday.
4. Manchester United (1)
17 of 20
United suffered two big blows this week by losing to two big rivals in Chelsea and Liverpool.
With the two losses, United are now only three points ahead of Arsenal in the table and have played a game more than the Gunners.
The two clubs will get to face each other in the FA Cup quarterfinals at Old Trafford on Saturday before United hosts Marseille in the Champions League next week.
3. Manchester City (3)
18 of 20
David Silva got credit for a goal that was botched by Wigan keeper Ali Al-Habsi to give City a 1-0 win.
City were dealt a big blow when Kolo Toure was suspended for a failed drug test, and the defender will be out for the forseeable future.
City's schedule is busy in the next two weeks with the start of a home and home with Dynamo Kiev on Thursday in Ukraine followed by a FA Cup quarterfinal match at home versus Reading, before hosting Kiev next Thursday.
2. Liverpool (6)
19 of 20
Dirk Kuyt capitalized on Luis Suarez's skill on the wing to set him up for his hat trick at Anfield against rivals Manchester United.
The 3-1 win over United kept the Reds in sixth place ahead of their Europa League home and home with Braga that starts in Portugal on Thursday.
1. Chelsea (2)
20 of 20
Frank Lampard scored three goals, two of them penalties, in Chelsea's two wins this week.
A 2-1 Tuesday win over Manchester United got the Blues back on track in the Premier League, and then, they followed up the win over their rivals with a 3-1 win over Blackpool on Monday.
Back up to fourth place in the table, the Blues will look to continue their current run of form when they face Copenhagen in the Champions League next week before hosting Manchester City on Sunday, March 20th.
