Some housekeeping ahead of this week’s club power rankings.
1) We’ve made a universal “up next” instead of labeling the next match, because the festive fixture season is nuts. We may squeeze in some CPRs before the end of the fortnight. Here’s the full list.
2) Never let ’em see you perturbed, they say, but let’s address a scratchy run of comments that come every time we roll out our latest litmus test of Premier League clubs.
[ MORE: Premier League schedule ]
We call them power rankings, and it’s become the norm for someone to load up their snark cannon and fire off a “Just look at the table!” or something along those lines.
To you, we say two things:
- The fixture list is not even close to balanced until at least Week 19
- A fifth place team on a four-match losing streak might not rate as highly as rising 10th place team who just beat them.
- Why do you hate fun, Mr. and Mrs. Serious Jones of Dullorado?
Green: New season-high ranking
Red: New season-low
[ MORE: PL Club Power Rankings archive ]
20. Watford — They’re taking shots, but the Hornets aren’t getting them on goal. The 3.2 shots on target per game is tied with Palace for lowest in the league.
Last week: 20
Season high: 17
Season low: 20
Last match: Lost 2-0 at Liverpool
Up next: Full festive fixture list here
19. Norwich City — Nice point at Leicester City, but it will be surprising if it can get another one versus a stung Wolves. If they do, it’s because Emiliano Buendia is looking like a proverbial canary in a coal mine (with all due respect to Teemu Pukki and Todd Cantwell).
Last week: 19
Season high: 10
Season low: 20
Last match: Drew 1-1 at Leicester City
Up next: Full festive fixture list here
18. Aston Villa — Okay, yeah, we’re worried now (and honestly seeing it in the immediate rear view of being outshot at home by a bunch of Liverpool kids isn’t helping).
Last week: 16
Season high: 8
Season low: 18
Last match: Lost 2-0 at Sheffield United
Up next: Full festive fixture list here
17. Southampton — The finishing was just so bad against West Ham.
Last week: 15
Season high: 13
Season low: 20
Last match: Lost 1-0 v. West Ham United
Up next: Full festive fixture list here
16. West Ham United — Moving forward while only accruing a modicum of momentum is possible. Sebastien Haller scoring could be huge, though, and he looked great in combination with Michail Antonio. Two powerful presences.
Last week: 18
Season high: 5
Season low: 20
Last match: Won 1-0 at Southampton
Up next: Full festive fixture list here
15. Bournemouth — The losing streak is over, and Eddie Howe celebrated like a madman, but the performance really wasn’t there.
Last week: 17
Season high: 6
Season low: 17
Last match: Won 1-0 at Chelsea
Up next: Full festive fixture list here
13. Everton — Got a lucky goal and a fortunate point, and no Blue on Merseyside is saying anything but, “Yeah, and?”
Last week: 14
Season high: 5
Season low: 19
Last match: Drew 1-1 at Manchester United
Up next: Full festive fixture list here
13. Arsenal — I’ll say it. The Mikel Arteta hire is good if you’re going to “do a United” and give him Ole level patience. Like at least three windows. That said, there are 3-0 losses to Man City that look a lot worse than Sunday.
Last week: 13
Season high: 4
Season low: 12
Last match: Lost 3-0 v. Man City
Up next: Full festive fixture list here
12. Newcastle United — Needs a dynamic, committed center midfielder in a bad way. Then again, most clubs do…
Last week: 11
Season high: 11
Season low: 20
Last match: Lost 1-0 at Burnley
Up next: Full festive fixture list here
11. Burnley — Three points are three points, but we’re still worried about a side that relies way too much on a big target man putting away scant few chances. Where is their Lys Mousset, their Emiliano Buendia?
Last week: 13
Season high: 5
Season low: 15
Last match: Won 1-0 v. Newcastle
Up next: Full festive fixture list here
10. Crystal Palace — Injuries are gonna test the Eagles, but Newcastle will give them the ball and that might help a team which is the only PL club averaging under 10 shot attempts per game.
Last week: 9
Season high: 5
Season low: 18
Last match: Drew 1-1 v. Brighton
Up next: Full festive fixture list here
9. Brighton and Hove Albion — Another quality point to extend their unbeaten M23 Derby run. Saturday’s visit from the Blades is sneaky intriguing in the 10 a.m. ET window.
Last week: 8
Season high: 6
Season low: 18
Last match: Drew 1-1 at Palace
Up next: Full festive fixture list here
8. Chelsea — Sometimes you out-perform the opponent and lose because Dan Gosling has a moment. Okay, rarely… but sometimes.
Last week: 5
Season high: 2
Season low: 12
Last match: Lost 1-0 v. Bournemouth
Up next: Full festive fixture list here
7. Sheffield United — Nice defeat of Villa, and a tangle with Brighton should provide plenty of entertainment.
Last week: 9
Season high: 5
Season low: 17
Last match: Won 2-0 v. Aston Villa
Up next: Full festive fixture list here
6. Manchester United — Wanted more out of a visit from Everton, but it’s easy to forget they’re still without one of the top attack-minded midfielders in the world.
Last week: 4
Season high: 2
Season low: 16
Last match: Drew 1-1 v. Everton
Up next: Full festive fixture list here
5. Wolves — Somehow, we came away from a home loss feeling more confident in Wolves chances of crashing the Top Four party.
Last week: 3
Season high: 3
Season low: 17
Last match: Lost 2-1 v. Spurs
Up next: Full festive fixture list here
4. Manchester City — Kevin De Bruyne didn’t have a league assist for over a month, then got one in London. Checking the leaderboard… yep, still leads the league.
Last week: 6
Season high: 1
Season low: 6
Last match: Won 3-0 at Arsenal
Up next: Full festive fixture list here
3. Tottenham Hotspur — An extremely impressive win at the Molineux, and Spurs have a chance to really do some damage over the festive period if they claim fourth place with a defeat of Chelsea this weekend.
Last week: 8
Season high: 2
Season low: 16
Last match: Won 2-1 at Wolves
Up next: Full festive fixture list here
2. Leicester City — Duds happen, and the xG analysis says James Maddison‘s new club probably should’ve lost to its old one. Also, Kelechi… dude.
Last week: 2
Season high: 2
Season low: 10
Last match: Drew 1-1 v. Norwich City
Up next: Full festive fixture list here
1. Liverpool — If the Reds come back from Qatar and wax the Foxes, there will only be one more fixture on the schedule that truly seems a threat to a loss-free league season.
Last week: 1
Season high: 1
Season low: 3
Last match: Won 2-0 v. Watford
Up next: Full festive fixture list here
