English Premier League Power Rankings: Week 9

This week, the Premier League saw plenty of surprise results.

The most surprising of all was Manchester City's dominance of Manchester United in a 6-1 win over their crosstown rivals.

Chelsea and Liverpool also slipped up this weekend, with the Blues losing to QPR and the Reds only taking one point out of a home match with Norwich City.

Down at the bottom of the table, Wolves and Swansea City split a point in their match while Bolton and Wigan both lost again.

Also, we are almost three months into the season and no manager has gotten the axe yet, even though there a quite a few managers that could be fired soon.

As always, the number in parenthesis is last week's ranking.

20. Wigan (20)

Wigan are still in search for their second win this season after losing to Newcastle on Saturday.

The loss drops the Latics road record to four losses and one draw so far this season.

Roberto Martinez will look to right the ship for the second straight season and has a good opportunity to do so as his club face a favorable schedule in the next few weeks with Fulham, Wolves and Blackburn.

19. Blackburn (18)

Blackburn were able to equalize once but could not a second time against Tottenham, falling 2-1 on Sunday.

Still sitting in last place, fans of the club want manager Steve Kean out as the team gets closer to the prospect of playing in the Championship next season.

Rovers will look to stay alive in the Carling Cup against Newcastle on Wednesday before visiting Norwich on Saturday.  

18. Bolton (17)

After getting back on track with a win two weeks ago, Bolton stumbled to a 2-0 loss to Sunderland on Saturday as the club tallied their seventh loss of the season.

Manager Owen Coyle is still trying to get positive results out of this season. Tuesday's loss against Arsenal in the Carling Cup did nothing to help that.

17. Swansea City (16)

Swansea were all set to take three points away at the Molineux Stadium, but they gave up two goals in the last six minutes and settled for a draw with Wolves.

Danny Graham and Joe Allen scored the goals for the Swans to give the early lead before they surrendered the two late goals.

A potential relegation showdown with Bolton is ahead for the 15th-place Swans on Saturday.

16. Wolverhampton (19)

Wolves survived a near disaster at home against Swansea as they racked up two late goals.

Kevin Doyle scored first in the 84th minute and two minutes later Jamie O'Hara hit the equalizer to give Wolves a 2-2 home draw.

A double dip of Manchester City is up next for Mick McCarthy's club as they host City in the Carling Cup on Wednesday, then visit the Eastlands on Saturday in the Premier League.

15. Fulham (12)

Fulham lost yet another game—this one in dramatic fashion—on Sunday against Everton.

Two late goals by Everton negated Bryan Ruiz's 67th-minute equalizer and resulted in a 3-1 loss for the Cottagers.

Martin Jol's club will look to get the club's second win at Wigan on Saturday.

14. Stoke (11)

Stoke lost their third game of the season to Arsenal on Sunday.

The loss came three days after the Potters easily beat Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Europa League, a competition in which they are still undefeated in this season.

Liverpool visits the Britannia Stadium for Carling Cup action on Wednesday, and then Newcastle travels to Stoke on Monday for a Premier League matchup.

13. Sunderland (15)

Stephane Sessegnon and Nicklas Bendtner came through in the last eight minutes against Bolton with a goal each to give Sunderland a much needed victory.

The win boosted the Black Cats up to 14th place in the table, nine points through nine games.

Steve Bruce will look to make his job more secure with a good result Saturday at home against Aston Villa.

12. Aston Villa (9)

The Villains were unable to hold their lead at home against West Brom on Saturday.

Darren Bent opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, but Villa could not hold West Brom. Villa gave up two goals with 10 men as Chris Herd was sent off following a controversial red card decision in the first half.

Villa also have to deal with the off-field issue of Barry Bannan, who got suspended by the team for a drunken driving incident over the weekend.

11. Norwich City (13)

Grant Holt was the hero for Norwich on Saturday as his 60th-minute goal gave the Canaries a well-deserved point in their draw with Liverpool.

Norwich is now sitting pretty in eighth place and have a good shot of staying in the Premier League. They are proving to be a strong side that can get a point or two from the bigger clubs.

The Canaries should get a win out of their next match as they host Blackburn on Saturday.

10. Everton (10)

Everton bookended Sunday's match against Fulham by scoring early and late.

Royston Drenthe scored in the third minute and then Louis Saha and Jack Rodwell both scored in the 90th minute to seal the 3-1 win on the road.

A tough week is ahead for the Toffees as they host Chelsea in the Carling Cup on Wednesday and then welcome Manchester United to Goodison Park on Saturday.

9. Queens Park Rangers (14)

QPR took away a huge win over Chelsea in the London derby at Loftus Road.

Heidar Helguson's 10th-minute penalty was all QPR needed to seal the victory over their London rivals.

Another London derby awaits for Neil Warnock and company on Sunday as they go to White Hart Lane to visit Tottenham.

8. West Brom (8)

Jonas Olsson and Paul Scharner helped continue West Brom's four-game unbeaten streak as they scored a goal each in the 2-1 win over Aston Villa.

The Baggies will look to continue their good form at home against Liverpool on Saturday.

7. Manchester United (2)

On Sunday, Manchester United played in what SIr Alex Ferguson called the worst game of which he has ever been a part.

United were blown out by Manchester City 6-1 at Old Trafford in a demoralizing loss.

Playing against Aldershot in the Carling Cup on Tuesday was a good rebound for United before they visit Everton on Saturday.

6. Chelsea (3)

Chelsea suffered a shock loss at Loftus Road to London rivals QPR in a 1-0 game.

Chelsea now get to prepare for another London derby this weekend as they face Arsenal on Saturday, three days after playing Everton in the Carling Cup.

5. Liverpool (6)

Liverpool were denied the full three points at Anfield on Saturday as Norwich played the role of spoiler in a 1-1 draw.

Craig Bellamy put the Reds ahead in the 45th minute, scoring his first Premier League goal since his return to Anfield.

The draw dropped the Reds down to sixth in the table as Tottenham moved above them by a point.

4. Arsenal (7)

Robin van Persie continues to prove why he is the most valuable player in the Premier League.

Against Stoke on Saturday, the Dutchman came off the bench and scored in both the 73rd and 82nd minute to give the Gunners a 3-1 win.

Van Persie is now up to seven goals so far this season and will look to score one or two more this weekend as the Gunners visit Stamford Bridge for the North London derby with Chelsea.

3. Newcastle (5)

Yohan Cabaye helped Newcastle stay undefeated this season as he powered home a 81st-minute goal against Wigan to give the Magpies a 1-0 win.

Newcastle are definitely contenders now for one of the Top Four places in the Premier League and have not shown any signs of slowing up just yet.

Two road tests are on the schedule for the Magpies this week as they visit Blackburn on Wednesday in Carling Cup action and Stoke on Monday in Premier League action.

2. Tottenham (4)

Tottenham were powered by two goals from Rafael van der Vaart on Sunday to take care of Blackburn at Ewood Park.

The Dutchman scored his fourth and fifth goals of the season and helped Spurs jump Liverpool into fifth place.

In the next two weeks, Spurs get to stay in London for their Premier League games as they host QPR on Sunday and then visit Craven Cottage to play Fulham the following weekend.

1. Manchester CIty (1)

Manchester City proved why they are far and away the best team in the Premier League right now as they took care of rivals Manchester United by a score of 6-1 at Old Trafford.

Mario Balotelli, a day after his fireworks spectacular, scored the first two goals and Edin Dzeko also netted two, while Sergio Aguero and David Silva both found the back of the net.

Roberto Mancini and company are five points clear of United in the table and six points clear of third-place Chelsea.