Matchweek 4 of the 2024-25 Premier League season provided some shocks and plenty of intriguing performances as a few teams are surging in the right direction.
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It’s still early days, but there are also some teams cemented in the strugglers section of our rankings. 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. Southampton - Even
18. Wolves – Down 2
17. Leicester City – Up 1
16. Ipswich Town – Up 1
Everton are in a really bad place after blowing 2-0 leads in back-to-back 3-2 losses, just the second time in Premier League history that has happened. Sean Dyche’s side are giving up huge chances galore and have let in 13 goals in their opening four games. That is very unlike a Dyche team, and very worrying as confidence levels are at rock bottom. Southampton played really well for the first 30 minutes against Manchester United and then Cameron Archer had a penalty kick saved. The Saints collapsed as United smelt blood in the water. Russell Martin’s Saints have had a tough start to life back in the top-flight but have some huge six-pointers — it’s not too early to call them that — coming up. Wolves let a 1-0 lead slip to lose at home against Newcastle and Gary O’Neil’s side are just struggling to convert chances and belief seems low after a poor finish to last season and key players being sold this summer. Leicester were minutes away from a first win back in the Premier League but a draw at Crystal Palace is still a good result as Wilfred Ndidi ran the show, Jamie Vardy scored, and the Foxes were fun to watch and dangerous on the counter. Is it 2016!? Ipswich picked up an excellent point at Brighton to draw for the second-straight week and almost won as the excellent Liam Delap smashed the post with a great individual effort. Kieran McKenna’s side are becoming tough to break down and have adapted well to the top-flight.
The middling bunch
15. Crystal Palace – Down 2
14. West Ham – Down 2
13. Fulham – Down 2
12. Bournemouth – Down 2
11. Brentford – Down 2
Oliver Glasner’s Palace deserved at least a draw at home to Leicester and Jean-Philippe Mateta finished twice in the second half to complete a comeback from 2-0. But sloppy defensive errors are unlike Palace and if they cut them out they will always create chances with Eberechi Eze around. West Ham were awful in the first half of their draw at Fulham but manager Julen Lopetegui got his subs spot on and rode some luck as Danny Ings equalized in the 95th minute. The Hammers are still trying to find their best lineup after many additions this summer. Fulham felt like they did more than enough to beat West Ham but the same problems keep plaguing Marco Silva’s side — finishing their chances. They had several big opportunities as Alex Iwobi, Emile Smith Rowe and Adama Traore were a handful but the next step for the Cottagers is to find that clinical edge. Speaking of not taking chances, Bournemouth have entered the chat. The Cherries battered Chelsea for vast swathes of their game as Evanilson had a penalty saved, they hit the post and crossbar, and Robert Sanchez denied them on several occasions. Bournemouth’s high-pressing is so hard to play against but now they need somebody to step up and fill the considerable void left behind after Dominic Solanke was sold to Spurs this summer. Brentford gave Man City a big fright with an early goal and could have been 2-0 up. In the end Thomas Frank’s side succumbed to the brilliance of Erling Haaland’s finishing, but the Bees were a threat throughout and hung in there gamely, as they always do.
The contenders
10. Manchester United – Up 4
9. Nottingham Forest – Up 6
8. Chelsea – Down 1
7. Tottenham Hotspur – Up 1
6. Brighton and Hove Albion - Down 2
It wasn’t pretty to start but Manchester United were ruthless and won at Southampton thanks to Andre Onana’s penalty save, a solid defensive outing (in the end), and clinical work on the counter as Marcus Rashford, Amad Diallo, and Alejandro Garnacho were excellent. It was a proper away day display from the Red Devils and we know they’re good on the counter. Nottingham Forest put in an inspired away day display of their own as they were so physical against Liverpool to pick up a famous win. Forest’s first win at Anfield since 1969 came courtesy of a screamer from Callum Hudson-Odoi and their fine start to the season is down to how solid they look defensively. The Tricky Trees have Anthony Elanga, Hudson-Odoi, and Morgan Gibbs-White marauding forward on the counter when they break as they surge up our rankings. Chelsea were lucky to leave Bournemouth with a win as they looked ragged defensively but Jadon Sancho, Joao Felix, and Christopher Nkunku coming off the bench made a big difference late on and Nkunku grabbed the winner. Tottenham were excellent in pretty much all areas against Arsenal but the finishing touch eluded them once again and cost them dearly. Solanke struggled. So did Heung-min Son and James Maddison, and Spurs’ superior possession led to nothing as they switched off defensively and allowed Arsenal to grab a derby win. This game summed up Spurs’ season so far: plenty of promise but no cutting edge. Brighton were off the boil against Ipswich and grabbed a point which wasn’t what they were expecting. The Seagulls will have much better days and Fabian Hurzeler’s side are still unbeaten.
The top dogs
5. Liverpool – Down 3
4. Aston Villa – Up 2
3. Newcastle United - Up 2
2. Arsenal – Up 1
1. Manchester City – Even
Watching Liverpool has been like devouring a fine edam so far this season, but Arne Slot has now tasted defeat as Liverpool boss for the first time. Their home defeat to Forest was a huge shock as they looked lightweight in midfield. The main concern is whether Forest have shown others teams a blueprint for how to overwhelm Slot’s possession-based style and stop them from dictating the tempo. Aston Villa were sloppy defensively and gave up big chances to Everton on the counter, which happens often with the high defensive line often implemented by Unai Emery. But the way Villa surged back from 2-0 down to win was impressive — Ollie Watkins should’ve scored more than two and Duran’s winning goal will live long in the memory. This is no ordinary world Villa are living in as they get ready for the Champions League this week and have won three of their first four games. Newcastle are also looking set for a top four push this season as they keep dragging their way through games despite not being at their best. Eddie Howe made some big changes during the game and is still trying to figure out his best midfield and attacking combinations. The Magpies are third in the table without being at their best. Given all of their absentees, Arsenal were impressive in their resolute win at Tottenham in the derby. They sat deep, soaked up pressure and were dangerous on the counter and from set pieces. This win proved Mikel Arteta’s side now know how to win ugly and they’ll have to do that a bunch in the next few weeks with their squad stretched to its limits. Manchester City remain in top spot as they overcame a scare at home to Brentford and Haaland continues his amazing start to the season with nine goals in his first four games. City look pretty unstoppable at the moment and have an air of invincibility swirling around them. That will be helpful ahead of their midweek Champions League clash with Inter Milan and the huge game against Arsenal this weekend.
