At this point in the season, power rankings begin to feel a lot closer to the actual table than an experiment in form.
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After all, teams in bad position are playing with mounds of pressure on their shoulders and not always picking up big results. And solid teams might have a poor result here or there, but usually nothing shocking.
Well, besides Swansea City and Liverpool.
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Here are this week’s rankings.
| TEAM | RANKING | ||
|---|---|---|---|
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20 (20) | Sunderland: The loss at West Brom just further proof of a lack of inspiration in the squad. | |
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19 (19) | Crystal Palace: Now in the drop zone, Big Sam needs Wilfried Zaha back from AFCON in a big way. | |
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18 (17) | Hull City: Zero shame in losing at Chelsea, but it doesn’t get easier as Manchester United, Liverpool, and Arsenal are next. | |
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17 (18) | Swansea City: The win at Liverpool is the type that can change a season. | |
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16 (16) | Watford: The Hornets have not won a league game since Dec. 10, its only PL win since mid-November. | |
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15 (15) | Middlesbrough: Jese would be nice. | |
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14 (13) | Leicester City: AFCON was always going to be a problem with Riyad Mahrez and Islam Slimani on the books. | |
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13 (12) | Bournemouth: The Watford draw somehow feels like a loss for Eddie Howe‘s bunch. | |
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12 (14) | Southampton: Usually we don’t account for Cup momentum in the PRs, but with Wembley on the minds and a big win over Leicester City, Saints feel a lot better this week. |
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11 (10) | Stoke City: No shame in drawing Manchester United. | |
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10 (11) | West Ham United: We are almost convinced that the Irons have turned the corner. Healthy Andy Carroll is almost unstoppable. | |
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9 (8) | Burnley: Forget the controversial ending, the Clarets showed us a bit about their mettle in the 2-1 loss to Arsenal. | |
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8 (9) | West Bromwich Albion: Easy win over Sunderland. | |
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7 (7) | Manchester City: Same place, and were tempted to move them up considering referee and not player error may’ve cost them a win versus Tottenham. | |
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6 (6) | Everton: Was a lot of work beating Palace. |
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5 (4) | Liverpool: We can talk AFCON absences, but the Reds didn’t lose to Swansea for lack of attack. |
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4 (3) | Manchester United: Stoke draw really needed to be a win, not that the Red Devils didn’t deserve all three points. | |
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3 (4) | Arsenal: Good mettle to hold off Burnley. All wins are wins (it’s science). | |
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2 (2) | Tottenham Hotspur: Fortunate not to lose versus Man City, but fortune is needed in a title push. Ask Leicester. | |
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1 (1) | Chelsea: Really good team. Really. Let’s hope to see Nathan Ake get his chance to shine. |