English Premier League Power Rankings: Week 2

This week in the Premier League, the two main title contenders showed why they are the top two teams in the league.

Also, one of the home strongholds in the league was broken by a newly promoted club and one of the top clubs with a new manager finally hit the stride in the second half of their match.

The big match of the weekend turned into a one-sided affair and the losing club showed it needs improvement immediately if it wants to contend.

As always, the number in parenthesis on each slide is the club's ranking from last week.

20. Blackburn (18)

Blackburn lost their second straight match in a row; this week it was to Aston Villa.

Paul Robinson let in three goals and Morten Gamst Pedersen rescued Rovers from a shutout with a 52nd-minute goal.

Steve Kean now leads his club into Carling Cup play on Wednesday against Sheffield Wednesday at home before staying at home to host Everton at Ewood Park on Saturday.

19. West Brom (17)

Things looked good early for West Brom on the road at Stamford Bridge thanks to a fourth-minute Shane Long goal but things fell apart in the second half and Chelsea decided to wake up.

The positive take of the 2-1 loss is that Long scored his second goal in two games for the Baggies and with Peter Odemwingie now healthy after an ankle injury, the two could be a deadly pairing up front.

18. Swansea (19)

Swansea secured their first point in the Premier League with a goalless draw at home against Wigan.

Swans keeper Michael Vorm has the hero of the day as he saved Ben Watson's penalty in the 73rd minute to keep the scoresheet clean.

A Carling Cup trip to Shrewsbury is next up for Brendan Rodgers and Company on Tuesday before returning to Wales to host Sunderland on Saturday.

17. Wigan (15)

Wigan's venture into Wales was not a particuluarly good one as the Latics ended in a goalless draw.

Ben Watson had an opportunity to score on a penalty in the 73rd minute but it was saved by Swansea keeper Michael Vorm.

Wigan will play their third straight promoted club in a row on Saturday as they host Queens Park Rangers.

16. Norwich (16)

Norwich's chance at their first win in the Premier League this season was denied in the last minute by Stoke.

Ritchie De Laet scored in the 37th minute to give the Canaries the lead, which was taken away in the 90th minute by Kenwyne Jones of Stoke.

Paul Lambert and Company will host MK Dons on Tuesday in the Carling Cup before visiting Stamford Bridge in their first matchup against one of the big four on Saturday against Chelsea.

15. Everton (10)

Everton suffered a shock loss at home on Saturday as they fell to newly promoted Queens Park Rangers, 1-0.

The Goodison Park crowd was stunned when the visitors took the lead in the first half and could not celebrate an equalizer by the home side.

One bright spot from the match is Ross Barkley, who, at 17 years old, made his Premier League debut and was the best player on the pitch for most of the game for the Toffees.

14. Fulham (13)

After winning in the Europa League on Thursday, Martin Jol's Fulham side were unable to find the back of the net in their 2-0 loss at the Molineux Stadium to Wolves.

Mark Schwarzer let in two late first-half goals and the Cottagers attack could not hit the back of the net.

Now, Fulham must travel to Ukraine to face Dnipro in the second leg of their Europa League fixture, in which they are up 3-0, and then fly back home and travel to Newcastle on Sunday.

13. Queens Park Rangers (20)

What a difference a week makes for Neil Warnock and QPR.

After being killed by four goals against Bolton, the club took a trip to Goodison Park and shocked mostly everyone by beating Everton 1-0.

Tommy Smith provided the scoring in the 31st minute for the visiting club from London.

QPR could be getting stronger in the days to come as rumors are swirling around bringing in Scott Parker and possibly Joe Cole to the club.

12. Tottenham (9)

Tottenham did not have a great start to their Premier League season on Monday, as they lost to Manchester United by the score of 3-0.

Harry Redknapp left Luka Modric out of the squad making the trip to Manchester and the move fueled even more speculation that the Croatian could move to Chelsea, while Emmanuel Adebayor should be on his way in from Manchester City on loan.

11. Arsenal (8)

Insert comment about Arsenal's poor performance versus Liverpool here.

There are plenty of things you can say about Arsenal and how much they need improve quickly before they fall out of the race for Europe early on in the season.

Tons of questions about transfers and Arsene Wenger's strategy going into Wednesday's trip to Italy to face Udinese and for the big trip to Old Trafford on Sunday to face Manchester United.

10. Sunderland (6)

Sunderland were on the losing side of the Tyne-Wear derby on Saturday, as they could not continue their momentum from the Liverpool draw a week before.

The Black Cats have only one point from two games and will look to get a full three points against Swansea as the club travel into Wales on Saturday.

9. Stoke (11)

Kenwyne Jones was the hero at the death for Stoke on Saturday.

The forward scored in the 90th minute on the road at Carrow Road to level Stoke with Norwich City and earn a 1-1 draw.

Before making a trip to The Hawthorns on Sunday to play West Brom, the Potters will look to advance farther in the Europa League as they host FC Thun on Thursday; Stoke is up 1-0 in the fixture.

8. Bolton (2)

Ivan Klasnic and Kevin Davies both scored a goal each for Bolton on Sunday but their efforts were not enough to carry Bolton to a win.

Owen Coyle's club were outscored and overpowered by Manchester City in the 3-2 loss.

The Trotters now face a tough stretch in Premier League play as they visit Liverpool on Saturday and then host Manchester United in the next game on September 10th.

7. Newcastle (12)

Ryan Taylor was the man of the match for Toon as he knocked home a free kick in the 62nd minute to beat rivals Sunderland in the Tyne-Wear derby.

Newcastle could capitalize on a tired Fulham squad, who have to travel to Ukraine in midweek, on Sunday as they host the London club at St. James' Park.

6. Aston Villa (14)

Aston Villa put on a dominant performance in front of the home crowd at Villa Park thanks to the club's three top forwards.

Gabriel Agbonlahor broke open the scoring in the 12th minute, Emile Heskey netted a goal in the 25th minute and Darren Bent scored in the 67th minute en route to a 3-1 win over Blackburn.

Up next in league play is an interesting fixture with Wolves on Saturday at Villa Park.

5. Chelsea (7)

After struggling to find their groove in the first half, the Chelsea squad we are all used to showed up in the second half.

Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda led the comeback from a goal down past West Brom to secure a 2-1 win at home at Stamford Bridge.

Manager Andre Villas-Boas received good news over the weekend that Juan Mata is likely to join the London club from Valencia in the next day or two and he could be ready to play as early as Saturday at Norwich.

4. Liverpool (5)

Liverpool won an ugly game against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

After a red card for Arsenal's Emmanuel Frimpong and the entrance of Luis Suarez to the game for Liverpool, the game changed its course in a matter of minutes.

Suarez's effort and Arsenal's sloppy defense led to an own goal in favor of the Reds in the 78th minute and then Suarez found net in the 90th minute to add to the 2-0 win.

3. Wolverhampton (4)

Wolves continued their stunning early season form with a 2-0 win over Fulham in their home opener at Molineux Stadium.

The all-of-a-sudden transfer target Kevin Doyle opened the scoring in the 42nd minute and three minutes later, Matt Jarvis put the second score on the board for Wolves.

Mick McCarthy's club now sit third in the table before they visit Northampton on Tuesday in the Carling Cup and then Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday.

2. Manchester United (3)

The young Red Devils wowed their home fans at Old Trafford in the home opener against Tottenham on Monday.

Danny Welbeck, Phil Jones, Tom Cleverley and Chris Smalling all were given starts and all impressed on the pitch.

Welbeck opened the scoring in the 61st minute before flicking the ball on to Anderson to score the second goal in the 76th minute.

Oh, and some old guy named Rooney found the back of the net late in the game.

United now have a clash of the titans with Arsenal at home with Bolton and Chelsea on the schedule in future weeks.

1. Manchester City (1)

City sit atop the power rankings for a second week in a row, but not by much over rivals United.

David Silva, Gareth Barry and Edin Dzeko all scored for Manchester City as they took down Bolton on the road by a score of 3-2.

The highest-scoring team so far this season will take their talents to White Hart Lane on Sunday to take on Tottenham.