All change atop our Premier League Power Rankings, as the big boys had varying degrees of success as the action returned after the international break.
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Liverpool edged past Chelsea in their biggest test of the young season, while Arsenal suffered a shock defeat after once again having a player sent off and Manchester City somehow scrapped a win late on to set another new record.
Elsewhere, there are still four winless teams (a Premier League record through eight games of a season) and there is plenty of shuffling among the teams hoping to push for the top six and Europe.
Based on all of that, and following the chaos of Matchweek 8, below are our latest rankings.
The strugglers
20. Southampton – Down 1
19. Wolves - Up 1
18. Ipswich Town – Down 1
17. Crystal Palace – Down 1
16. West Ham – Down 3
Oh, Saints. 2-0 up at home with just 25 minutes to go and they lost 3-2 to fellow new boys Leicester City as they imploded. Southampton play some lovely stuff but are badly lacking in belief and confidence and just can’t see out wins. A crunch period is coming up in the next few weeks for Russell Martin’s young side. Wolves were so close to grabbing a big point at home against Manchester City but more late VAR drama left Gary O’Neil seething even if John Stones’ late winner was legit. Wolves have had a ridiculously tough schedule to start the season but they need to pick up some points in the coming weeks otherwise a season of struggle beckons. Ipswich look set for the same destiny as they’re one of the four winless teams and Kieran McKenna’s side are consistently making poor defensive errors and were punished in a big home defeat against Everton. Crystal Palace looked pretty toothless in their defeat at Nottingham Forest as Oliver Glasner is under pressure with the Eagles also winless. They have a pivotal run of games coming up and they have to find some attacking creativity. Fast. West Ham were shambolic in their defeat at Tottenham as they took the lead but never looked like getting anything out of the game. What is Julen Lopetegui trying to do? It’s unclear and the Spaniard is already under serious pressure after just a few months in charge of the Hammers.
The middling bunch
15. Brentford – Down 4
14. Leicester City - Up 1
13. Everton — Up 5
12. Fulham – Down 4
11. Manchester United – Up 3
Brentford took the lead at Manchester United but were overrun throughout and the Bees continue to struggle with several key players out injured. They still have plenty of points on the board and should be fine this season. Leicester surged back from a shocking first half performance to win at Southampton and Steve Cooper is still figuring out his best team, but Buonanotte, Vardy and Ndidi are the soul of their midfield and attack. Everton got a huge win at Ipswich to calm things down as Sean Dyche’s side are unbeaten in four and have kept two clean sheets in a row. Iliman Ndiaye is a real talent and the Toffees are looking onwards and upwards as their protracted sale to the Friedkin Group continues to head towards completion. Fulham had an off day defensively against a very good Aston Villa team as they lost at home but Marco Silva’s side caused plenty of problems going forward and could have scored three or four on another day and were made to rue a penalty miss. Ah, Manchester United, that’s more like it. They surge up in our rankings after a dominant home win against Brentford even if the scoreline suggests otherwise. Erik ten Hag’s forward finally delivered with Hojlund, Rashford and Garnacho all firing and United looked so dangerous on the counter.
The contenders
10. Newcastle United - Down 1
9. Bournemouth – Up 3
8. Nottingham Forest – Up 1
7. Tottenham Hotspur – Even
6. Chelsea – Down 2
Eddie Howe’s Newcastle are in a bit of a slump in attack and their home loss against Brighton summed up their season so far. They dominated play but couldn’t put away chances with Anthony Gordon struggling in the final third. Bournemouth move up our rankings after their big home win against Arsenal. Even though Arsenal helped them out with an early red card, the Cherries were great value for their win and Andoni Iraola’s side make it so difficult for opponents and are very good at forcing mistakes and pressing at the right moments. Nottingham Forest are another side who love to make it tough and dig in and they continued their great start to the season by edging by Crystal Palace. It’s not pretty from Nuno Espirito Santo’s side but who at Forest cares about that? They have the perfect manager for their squad and are heading in the right direction. Tottenham are back on track too as they recovered superbly after a slow start against West Ham. Ange Postecoglou’s side roared to victory in the second half and were magnificent in the final third and could have scored six or seven. Chelsea move down in our rankings but only because others impressed slightly more. Enzo Maresca’s side were very good in their narrow loss at Liverpool and if they weren’t missing Cucurella and Fofana through suspension they could have easily grabbed at least a point. The next step for this young Chelsea side is cutting out a spell of defensive jitters they seem to have for 10-15 minutes in most games.
The top dogs
5. Brighton and Hove Albion - Even
4. Aston Villa – Up 2
3. Arsenal – Down 2
2. Manchester City – Up 1
1. Liverpool – Up 2
Fabian Hurzeler’s Brighton rode their luck at Newcastle but proved they can play a different way and looked dangerous on the counter. Their fine start to the season continues and they have the perfect blend of youth, experience and new talents. Aston Villa were excellent at Fulham and Unai Emery has found the perfect spot for Morgan Rogers just underneath Ollie Watkins. That duo tore Fulham apart and Villa should have won by a greater margin, as Emiliano Martinez also came up with a big penalty save at a crucial time. Arsenal move down in our rankings as aside from their early red card for William Saliba at Bournemouth, they were unusually shaky defensively. David Raya and Ben White in particular had off days and Mikel Arteta’s squad is stretched to its limits and looked like it. The Gunners will regroup but their long unbeaten run is over and they have to stop making sloppy defensive errors and above all else stop getting players needlessly sent off. Manchester City left it late but grabbed a deserved win at Wolves thanks to late-goal specialist John Stones as they set a new club-record unbeaten run of 31 Premier League games. City were dominant and never gave up but they do look susceptible on the counter attack this season. Liverpool jump two spots to top spot in our rankings as Arne Slot got a statement win against Chelsea. It wasn’t dominant but the way Liverpool controlled the game after they went 2-1 up in the second half showcased why they can stay in the title race this season. There are still defensive concerns but going forward they look sharp and have options and the balance is much better in midfield this season. Bigger challenges will arrive in the coming weeks, especially at Arsenal this weekend, but seven wins from eight to start the season is a dream start for Slot.
