Two teams in claret are leaping up our table as the Premier League eyes up a tasty weekend with matches at both ends of the table.
[ MORE: League Cup wrap ]
Chelsea will host Liverpool in a bid to knock off the Reds for a second time in four days, while Cardiff City hopes Burnley will be waylaid by a shock loss to Burton Albion in the League Cup.
To the rankings!
20. Huddersfield Town — Both Cardiff and Huddersfield will be looking for each other on the schedule, only to realize that’s where both acquired one of their measly two points.
Last week: 18
Season high: 18
Season low: 20
19. Cardiff City — Neil Warnock‘s Bluebirds get to sit above Huddersfield on account of their last three matches, all losses, coming against Arsenal, Chelsea, and Man City.
Last week: 19
Season high: 19
Season low: 20
18. Newcastle United — Celebrated the end of a tough early season run of fixtures by nearly losing to Palace and scrambling to find any notion of offense in the scoreless draw. Rafa Benitez clearly has little trust for his strikers.
Last week: 17
Season high: 13
Season low: 18
17. Burnley — Celebrate! The Clarets absolutely crushed Bournemouth at Turf Moor to ring in some good times and climb out of our, and the real table’s, Bottom Three.
Last week: 20
Season high: 15
Season low: 20
16. Southampton — Not being able to use Danny Ings against his parent club had three points in Liverpool’s side of the board before the match began at Anfield.
Last week: 14
Season high: 13
Season low: 17
15. Fulham — The Cottagers only loss in four matches was against Man City. The question is whether Fulham has enough defense to limit goals. The club has not kept a clean sheet and has only allowed one goal on one occasion.
Last week: 15
Season high: 11
Season low: 17
14. Brighton and Hove Albion — A rainy visit from Spurs ended 2-1 in favor of Tottenham, but there was reason to believe the Seagulls could’ve managed a third successive 2-2 draw.
Last week: 12
Season high: 9
Season low: 19
13. Everton — Having Richarlison back in encouraging, but not much else about the 2-0 loss at Arsenal is giving us hope about Everton rising too high up the table.
Last week: 10
Season high: 5
Season low: 11
12. Crystal Palace — Mamadou Sakho‘s missed sitter at the back post is going to be one of the things we look back on if Palace fails to finish top half.
Last week: 11
Season high: 6
Season low: 13
11. West Ham United — We know this is a terrific jump for a club who lost its first four matches of the season, but Manuel Pellegrini‘s side was always too talented and too high-powered to be a Bottom Three candidate.
Last week: 16
Season high: 16
Season low: 20
(Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
10. Leicester City — If Claude Puel‘s men are for real, they’ll do a job against Newcastle United this week.
Last week: 13
Season high: 8
Season low: 13
9. Bournemouth — A mighty shot back to Earth for the Cherries, though admittedly the 4-0 loss at Burnley wasn’t reflective of their performance.
Last week: 6
Season high: 6
Season low: 12
8. Watford — Fourth in the table, but failing to get more than a point at home to Fulham has the feel of sheep in wolves’ clothing (or at least less vicious dogs in wolves’ clothing).
Last week: 5
Season high: 4
Season low: 8
7. Manchester United — If the off-field subplots weren’t running so rampant, the draw against Wolves would be easily forgiven. Instead, they’ve run into a League Cup upset at the hands of Derby County. Beware the match-up with West Ham early Saturday (Watch live at 7:30 a.m. ET on NBCSN and online via NBCSports.com).
Last week: 7
Season high: 4
Season low: 14
6. Tottenham Hotspur — The win against Brighton failed to inspire, but Erik Lamela is rounding into form. Dele Alli‘s midweek League Cup goal could be the jolt his season needed at Stadium MK.
Last week: 8
Season high: 3
Season low: 8
5. Wolves — Fun to watch, and have drawn both Manchester clubs (including United away). Nuno Espirito Santo‘s on hallowed ground.
Last week: 8
Season high: 5
Season low: 13
Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Joao Moutinho (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)
4. Arsenal — Winners of four-straight in league play, a defeat of Watford at the weekend would show signs of true contention.
Last week: 4
Season high: 4
Season low: 9
3. Chelsea — The draw against West Ham was unlucky, but Maurizio Sarri‘s men will be serious title fighters if either Olivier Giroud or Alvaro Morata can find their in-form finishing boots.
Last week: 3
Season high: 3
Season low: 4
2. Manchester City — Just another ho-hum 5-0 win. Avoiding a slip-up at Brighton in a classic trap game before trips to Hoffenheim and Liverpool will be paramount to their title hopes.
Last week: 2
Season high: 1
Season low: 2
- Liverpool — The perfect season was lost in a home defeat to Chelsea at midweek. Now can they flip the script when the same two teams switch venues and put all their stars on show in London on Saturday?
Last week: 1
Season high: 1
Season low: 2
Be the first to comment