1. Chelsea (1): No surprises that Chelsea have claimed the top spot for the third time in four weeks. Diego Costa now has seven from four games, and if he keeps this up Chelsea can get away with the odd defensive error that they are culpable to commit. Loic Remy also got in on the action, scoring his debut goal for the Blues.
2. Manchester City (3): Manchester City are given the second spot by way of a hard-fought draw at the Emirates and the shocking home defeat to Liverpool. With Fernando out, City lack steel guarding the back line, but like Chelsea, this team can score in bunches.
3. Southampton (5): Graziano Pelle is turning out to be one of the buys of the summer for Ronald Koeman, whose stock is soaring at the Saint Mary’s Stadium these days. The spirit at the club couldn’t be stronger at the moment, with Southampton netting seven from their last two outings.
4. Arsenal (6): New boy Alexis turned in an outstanding performance on Saturday, but the man of the hour was undoubtedly Jack Wilshere. So often criticized for his performances for both club and country, the 22 year old Englishman hit back at his critics with a near perfect display anchoring the Arsenal midfield with his tenacity and driving runs. A collision with Samir Nasri typified Wilshere’s toughness and fearless approach.
5. Aston Villa (8): Take a bow, Paul Lambert. Aston Villa pulled off one of the upsets of the season on Saturday, as they snatched three points in front of a stunned Anfield crowd. Fabian Delph’s inclusion in Roy Hodgson’s latest England squad is a testament to the entire club’s body of work early on in the season. Tom Cleverly was impressive…there, I said it.
6. Swansea (4): Swansea were not shy in their clash with league-leaders Chelsea, but the Blues proved too much for Gary Monk’s men. Swansea have much to be proud of after their gritty performance at Stamford Bridge, and are looking like the 2013/2014 Southampton of this season in the early goings.
7. Liverpool (2): Liverpool take the biggest plummet in the rankings, as they were left searching for an answer to Daniel Sturridge’s absence. Perhaps losing their talismanic front man had something to do with it, but resting an in-form Raheem Sterling was a blatant mistake by Brendan Rodgers.
8. Manchester United (9): Much has been said about how good United looked in their 4-0 dredging of QPR on Sunday. However, beating arguably the worst team in the league at home should be a formality. Nonetheless, new signings Angel Di Maria and Daley Blind collectively proved their worth and offered a glimpse into the future for Manchester United fans desperately seeking piece of mind.
9. Everton (11): Romelu Lukaku impressed in the away victory at the Hawthornes. Rather than squander a two goal lead as they did against Arsenal, Everton locked down defensively and kept a clean sheet ahead of their home clash with a sputtering Crystal Palace side.
10. Tottenham (7): It has been a tale of two pairs of outings for Tottenham. The first two games couldn’t have gone better for Spurs, while the last two are definitely ones to forget. However, I expect them to learn from last season and do better this year.
11. Leicester City (16): Leicester impressed in their second consecutive fixture with a win at the Brittania Stadium. Leonardo Ulloa’s winner earned Leicester their first win at Stoke in 10 years.
12. Burnley (13): Burnley wasted an opportunity to snatch an improbable three points from Selhurst park. Sean Dyche still searches for his first premier league win as a manager following Burnley’s promotion from the Championship.
13. Hull City (14): Hull City’s home fixture against West Ham was a riveting contest, and Mohamed Diame haunted his former club with a goal. New signing Abel Hernandez also netted for the Tigers, but an own goal from Curtis Davies spoiled the win for Hull City.
14. Stoke City (10): Stoke City were unimpressive in their loss to Leicester at home. Mark Hughes has to go back to the drawing board and figure out how to add some offense to this side.
15. Sunderland (15): Gus Poyet’s side benefitted from a late Harry Kane own-goal in a 2-2 draw with Tottenham. Their performance was subpar, with Christian Eriksen carving up the midfield several times. The Black Cats will head to Burnley next weekend against a team desperate for three points.
16. Crystal Palace (12): Crystal Palace had a chance to take three huge points from a fixture involving two winless teams. Julian Speroni saved a penalty late on, and the Eagles were lucky to end up with just a point in a game that featured lots of poor finishing.
17. West Ham (17): West Ham earned a solid point in one of the more exciting games of the season to this point. Enner Valencia’s first league start culminated in a stunning goal, hopefully a sign of things to come for the Hammers.
18. Newcastle United (16): Alan Pardew’s job is surely in jeopardy now. Underdogs going into the fixture against Southampton, the Magpies hardly showed up to play and were subsequently thrashed by Ronald Koeman’s revolutionary side. Pardew needs results or he’ll join David Moyes in the unemployment line.
19. Queens Park Rangers (19): The bottom two spots in the rankings stay the same for another week. Queens Park Rangers were subjected to a coming out party at Old Trafford for several big signings. Realistically they were never going to get points from this fixture, but a 4-0 shellacking is never good for morale.
20. West Brom (20): West Brom had a chance to steal a point at home from Everton but were promptly dispatched by Romelu Lukaku and the Toffees. They show organization for much of their games, but unforgivable gaffes at the back have cost them in recent weeks, Saturday in particular.
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