The 2023-24 Premier League season has been chaos so far and the table is beautifully congested as we head into the busy festive season.
How do we make sense of it all? If only there was another way to rank how teams are getting on…
There are a few outliers overachieving, or underachieving, as the Premier League continues to provide shocks galore up and down the table and we look to have an extremely tight title race between up to a dozen teams this season.
Below are the Power Rankings for all 20 teams based on what they showed us in Matchweek 13 and their current trajectory. Get ready for plenty of moves up and down this ranking in the weeks, and many months, to come.
Premier League Power Rankings – Week 13
The strugglers
20. Burnley – Even
19. Sheffield United – Down 1
18. Nottingham Forest – Down 1
17. Fulham – Up 2
16. Crystal Palace – Down 3
Vincent Kompany’s Burnley collapsed late on against West Ham to lose a seventh-straight home game to start the season and they just don’t have the quality to finish off chances. Sheffield United were booed at home as Bournemouth battered them and the clock is ticking for Paul Heckingbottom, while Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper is under pressure too. Cooper’s side lost at home to Brighton in a topsy-turvy clash and Forest have to stop making defensive mistakes.
Fulham were lucky to beat Wolves thanks to two very soft penalty kicks but Marco Silva’s side are finding a way to grind out wins. As for Crystal Palace, Roy Hodgson appears to be on the hot seat as the Eagles lost away at Luton Town and that’s now one win in their last six and four defeats in their last five.
The scrappers
15. Everton – Down 4
14. Luton Town – Up 2
13. West Ham – Up 1
12. Bournemouth – Up 3
11. Wolves – Down 2
Sean Dyche’s Everton were well-beaten by Man United in the end but they did create a ton of chances in the first half of their 3-0 defeat. They couldn’t take them and that has been the story of their season so far.
If Everton could finish and didn’t receive a 10-point deduction they would be comfortably in the top 10 instead of the relegation zone. Luton were excellent in their home win against Palace and they’re dragging themselves clear of the bottom three with their clear playing style and incredible team spirit.
West Ham survived an almighty scare at Burnley as Mohammed Kudus set up both goals late on to ease the pressure on David Moyes. Bournemouth were brilliant at Sheffield United as Andoni Iraola’s side have won three of their last four and things have finally clicked with their high-pressing style of play.
Wolves were incredibly unlucky, once again, as VAR decisions went against them at Fulham and Gary O’Neil’s side should probably have at least six more points than their current total.
The promising bunch
10. Chelsea – Down 4
9. Brighton – Up 3
8. Brentford – Even
7. Tottenham – Down 2
6. Manchester United – Up 4
Chelsea have injuries but the way they were overrun and imploded at Newcastle was hugely worrying for Mauricio Pochettino as the Blues boss let his side know how disappointed he was after the game.
Unless Chelsea cut out these defensive errors they are destined for another season in midtable. Brighton finally got back to winning ways and did it in impressive fashion at Forest as they were down to 10 men but battled extremely hard for the win and the relief was palpable for Roberto De Zerbi and his players.
Brentford were unlucky to lose at home at Arsenal and continue to be one of the toughest teams to play against, while Tottenham were also very unlucky to lose at home to Aston Villa.
Ange Postecoglou is without so many key players but they took the game to Villa, went ahead and should have been 3-0 up before they tired in the second half and Villa struck either side of half time to inflict a third-straight defeat on Spurs.
Manchester United made it 5 wins from the last six and three in a row as they won 3-0 at Everton thanks to Alejandro Garnacho’s early stunner and a goal each from Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial. United had to weather the storm but having Luke Shaw back and youngster Kobbie Mainoo excelling in midfield was very important to them holding firm and easing to victory, in the end.
The leading lights
5. Newcastle – Up 2
4. Liverpool – Down 2
3. Aston Villa – Up 1
2. Arsenal – Up 1
1. Manchester City – Even
What an incredible 4-1 win for Newcastle against Chelsea as Eddie Howe’s injury-hit side continue to defy belief as they steamrollered Chelsea at St James’ Park to set themselves up for a big week in the Champions League.
Newcastle remain in the top four battle and perhaps Liverpool are in the title battle as they dug deep and hung in there to snatch a point at Manchester City as they are just two points off the top. Jurgen Klopp’s side were nowhere near their best but they had chances on the counter and could have even won it, but a point felt like a step forward for Liverpool as they improved as the game went on.
Talking about improving, what a 12 months it has been for Unai Emery at Aston Villa as they won at Tottenham and are just two points off the top of the table. Can Villa hang in the title race this season?
Arsenal certainly look like they’ll hang in the title race as they won late on at Brentford thanks to Kai Havertz and although they started poorly in that game they showed their newfound resilience to grind out another win as Declan Rice was superb and the Gunners sit top of the table after 13 games.
Manchester City remain top of our rankings as they should have blown Liverpool out of the water but couldn’t take their chances and were punished.
If City can get on the end of the crosses the brilliant Jeremy Doku is delivering then they will storm ahead in the standings in the coming weeks.
