Matchweek 5 of the 2024-25 Premier League season provided so much drama, as plenty of big boys are on the move in our rankings.
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From Man City and Arsenal drawing in an epic clash to big wins for Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham, there is so much movement in our Power Rankings. There is also plenty of predictability in the strugglers section too.
It’s still early days. There’s still tons 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. Wolves – Down 1
18. Southampton - Up 1
17. Leicester City – Even
16. West Ham – Down 2
Everton played okay at Leicester City but after taking the lead (again) they coughed up a second half goal to draw and they struggled to create big chances. Off the pitch the Toffees have had good news this week with the Friedkin Group agreeing a takeover so perhaps that will give everyone a boost. Wolves are in need of a boost as they lost at Aston Villa after a dramatic late collapse. Gary O’Neil’s side look very suspect defensively and their poor start to the season has alarm bells ringing at Molineux. Southampton were so close to their first win back in the big time thanks to superb teenager Tyler Dibling, but missed some big chances to go 2-0 up against Ipswich. Then a deflected shot in the 95th minute broke their hearts at St Mary’s. Still, Saints are figuring it out and they now seem to know their best XI after a busy summer of transfer activity. Leicester were decent in the second half against Everton and hung in there, got an equalizer and could’ve won it late on. Steve Cooper’s side are a plucky bunch and they will grind out plenty of draws. West Ham didn’t look capable of grinding out anything in their heavy home defeat to London rivals Chelsea. Julen Lopetegui is perhaps guilty of trying to change too much too soon as the Hammers players played as if they have no idea about what is being asked of them. It’s been a tough start for West Ham and they deservedly move down into our strugglers section.
The middling bunch
15. Ipswich Town – Up 1
14. Crystal Palace – Up 1
13. Bournemouth – Down 1
12. Brentford – Down 1
11. Manchester United – Down 1
Ipswich have drawn three on the spin and have adapted nicely to the Premier League. Kieran McKenna’s side were good value for their point at Southampton and look dangerous on the counter and from set pieces with Omari Hutchinson a real threat. Crystal Palace were poor in the first half but much better in the second half of their draw against Man United as they’re still searching for fluidity and consistency early in the season but the second 45 was textbook Palace. Bournemouth lost at Liverpool as a first half blitz saw them concede three times but Andoni Iraola’s side always cause problems in attack and sometimes if their press is just off they can get punished like they were at Anfield. Injury-hit Brentford started superbly at Tottenham as Mbeumo scored a beauty after 23 seconds but much like their defeat at Man City they poked the bear and were overwhelmed in midfield and eventually lost. Manchester United are lacking consistency as they should have been out of sight at Palace but missed big chances galore, then had Andre Onana to thank for making some big saves in the second half to grab a point. Clunky is the best way to sum the Red Devils up early in the season.
The contenders
10. Fulham – Up 3
9. Newcastle United - Down 6
8. Nottingham Forest – Up 1
7. Brighton and Hove Albion - Down 1
6. Tottenham Hotspur – Up 1
The Cottagers put in a brilliant display to beat Newcastle as Smith Rowe has brought their attack to life with Raul Jimenez close to being back to his best and Iwobi and Pereira pulling the strings. Marco Silva’s side surge up our rankings somewhat unexpectedly. Newcastle have been poor for most of this season so their big drop in our rankings was coming. They were dreadful defensively at Fulham and after grinding out results early in the season, they were finally caught out. Nottingham Forest remain unbeaten and fought back to grab a draw at Brighton and could have won it late on as Nuno is working his counter-attacking magic. Brighton also remain unbeaten and have drawn three straight but Fabian Hurzeler’s side will be disappointed with their last two performance against Ipswich and Forest and that they couldn’t turn possession and good chances into more goals. That is not a Hurzeler problem and has been Brighton’s main issue for a long time. Tottenham were stunned early by Brentford but James Maddison inspired their comeback win. Their swashbuckling style was coupled with incessant pressing and Ange was extremely happy with their performance.
The top dogs
5. Chelsea – Up 3
4. Aston Villa – Even
3. Liverpool – Up 2
2. Manchester City – Down 1
1. Arsenal – Up 1
Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea were sensational on the counter at West Ham to secure an extremely comfortable win and underline their potential as they move into the top section of our rankings. Chelsea are improving defensively and with their wonderful stable of attackers they can rotate heavily (Felix, Nkunku and Neto off the bench is wild) and punish any kind of mistakes from opponents. Aston Villa are masters of punishing mistakes too, but after their Champions League exploits last week they took a while to wake up against Wolves. Unai Emery’s main man Ollie Watkins came up with the goods and they’re relentless energy is too much to hold off for a full 90. Liverpool did the damage in the first 45 minutes at home against Bournemouth with three wonderful finishes. Arne Slot’s side are enjoying more control in games but they still have that Klopp instinct to put their foot down on the accelerator when an opponent is teetering on the brink, with Salah, Nunez and Diaz running riot. Manchester City move off top spot in our rankings after a dramatic draw against Arsenal. They started well, scored early but then Rodri’s injury impacted them massively and they just scraped a draw in the 98th minute against 10-man Arsenal. Despite all of their creative talents they struggled to break through Arsenal’s incredible defensive line, which is a worry. As for Arsenal, that rearguard action moves them to top spot as they showed real progress in the 2-2 draw at City. After a rough start they were well on top before half time and were deservedly ahead. Their reaction to Trossard’s red card just before half time was magnificent as so many players but in heroic defensive efforts and the ‘dark arts’ rattled City. Yes, Arsenal didn’t hold on for a statement win but compared to their 0-0 draw at City last season they had more control and threat in the first half when it was 11 against 11. That is a big step forward.