Matchweek 2 of the 2024-25 Premier League season is in the books and plenty of patterns are starting to emerge, as you can see in our Power Rankings.
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Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Brighton are all perfect through two weeks, while familiar issues remain with Manchester United and there are worrying signs for the likes of Everton, Crystal Palace, Leicester City, Southampton and Wolves.
It’s still early days. There’s still plenty of time to surge up our rankings. Don’t panic.
Below we rank all 20 Premier League teams based on their current form.
The strugglers
20. Everton - Even
19. Ipswich Town - Even
18. Southampton - Even
17. Wolves - Down 3
16. Leicester City - Even
It was another wretched weekend for Everton as they were smashed 4-0 at Tottenham and put in a woeful defensive display. Sean Dyche says they can’t add new players late in the window due to financial restrictions and alarm bells are ringing once again at Goodison. In truth, they’ve never stopped. Ipswich poked the bear as they scored early at Man City but were then battered by Erling Haaland and Co. in a heavy defeat. It will be much easier to judge the Tractor Boys after their home game against Fulham this weekend. Southampton have yet to score on their Premier League return and lost both games 1-0. They were hit multiple times on the counter at home by Nottingham Forest and looked toothless in attack as they will surely tweak their approach and are trying to make big moves late in the window. Wolves were demolished by Chelsea and Gary O’Neil’s threadbare squad look really ragged defensively as they may bring in Ramsdale to try and shore things up at the back. Leicester lost at Fulham and were very passive and well-beaten. Steve Cooper’s side need reinforcements in attack late in the window but finances probably won’t allow them to do that.
The middling bunch
15. Crystal Palace - Even
14. Nottingham Forest - Up 3
13. Brentford - Down 2
12. Bournemouth - Up 1
11. West Ham - Up 1
How worried should we be about Crystal Palace? Defeats to Brentford and West Ham to open the season are far from ideal and despite Eberechi Eze looking so dangerous, the Eagles are lacking a cutting edge and were punished for slack defending. Forest were very good at Southampton as they were dominant and composed all over the pitch and deservedly won as Gibbs-White, Elanga and Hudson-Odoi are a real handful. Brentford were pummelled away at Liverpool and never looked like get anything from the game as Thomas Frank may be a bit concerned where goals will come from as Ivan Toney is set to move on. Bournemouth should have beaten Newcastle but were unlucky with the VAR handball call to deny Ouattara a stoppage-time winner. Iraola’s side will be hard to beat and Evanilson showed signs he can replace Solanke as a focal point. West Ham got a big win at Palace and that will be huge for confidence as Lopetegui beds in a new playing style and plenty of new players.
The contenders
10. Newcastle United - Down 2
9. Manchester United - Down 2
8. Fulham - Up 1
7. Chelsea - Up 3
6. Aston Villa - Down 1
It’s not been a brilliant start for Newcastle in terms of performances but they’ve got four points on the board. The Magpies were lucky to grab a point at Bournemouth and they look shaky at the back. Just like most of last season, Man United were suspect at the back too and that cost them at Brighton. Erik ten Hag was furious with the defending as United lost in stoppage time and missed big chances to win the game themselves. Fulham got off and running as they beat Leicester with the class of Arsenal-made Iwobi and Smith Rowe vital as the Cottagers look set for another season of midtable magnificence. Chelsea stormed past Wolves thanks to the brilliance of Madueke and Palmer. There are still plenty of cohesion and defensive issues for Maresca to iron out, but the Blues added a much-needed finishing touch to their promising play in the final third. Aston Villa slip down our rankings after they lost to Arsenal but they should have been ahead against the Gunners as Watkins missed two glorious chances. Unai Emery’s side showed they can still mix it with the big boys but with the grind of the expanded Champions League group stage coming up, it feels like Villa may only challenge for the top six this season rather than secure back-to-back top four finishes.
The top dogs
5. Tottenham Hotspur - Up 1
4. Liverpool - Down 1
3. Brighton and Hove Albion - Up 1
2. Manchester City - Even
1. Arsenal - Even
Ange Postecoglou must have worn his lucky boxer shorts this weekend, as his Spurs side finally remembered how to finish. They blew past Everton 4-0 and could have scored double that. Tottenham are swashbuckling to watch and the final piece of the jigsaw is consistent finishing, which was present this weekend. We are seeing a different Liverpool side as they had total control against Brentford and won 2-0. They could have scored four more but Arne Slot’s style is more opera than Klopp’s heavy metal as his side delicately possess the ball and build up to a crescendo of attacking excellence with a refreshed Salah leading the way. What a start to life in the Premier League for Fabian Hurzeler, as the 31-year-old coach has back-to-back wins and Brighton won late on at home against Man United (again) to underline their status as top six contenders. With no European action this season, big spending on rising stars and a new take on their high-pressing style, maybe the Seagulls could even push for a top four finish? Manchester City were startled by Ipswich’s early goal, so much so that they scored three in four minutes right after to assert their dominance. Haaland’s hat trick underlines how fresh he looks after a chilled summer and Gundogan looks like he never left. The reigning champs are looking good. Arsenal remain top of our rankings though, as they rode their luck at Aston Villa but ultimately showed they’ve made progress this summer by winning 2-0. Mikel Arteta’s squad is deeper than last year and he’s rotating more. Thanks to Raya’s fine save and Trossard’s crucial goal off the bench, they have players stepping up all over the pitch to contribute. Their next three games are against Brighton, Tottenham and Man City and the solid Gunners look primed to take the next step. If they win all of their next three (which is a big if) they’ll be the title favorites.