Premier League power rankings: Liverpool remain top, Arsenal rise while Brighton and Nottingham Forest fall
The 2025/26 Premier League season is now five games in, with storylines developing at the top and the bottom of the table.
Is it too early to start talking about Oliver Glasner as the manager of the year, and is it possible that Mikel Arteta’s incompetence will allow Tottenham to rival Liverpool for the Premier League title?
Sunderland and Leeds are looking increasingly likely to buck trends dramatically, while even Burnley will be eyeing up meetings with Villa, Leeds, and sorry Wolves.
Every week here on Sports News Blitz, betting expert George Dempsey will be compiling the only table that matters — our very own Premier League power rankings.
20. Wolves →
Wolves fans didn’t even bother waiting until full-time to boo their sorry lot off. Leeds controlled possession from the start, but Ladislav Krejčí’s goal offered brief respite.
The Whites then scored three unanswered, including Anton Stach rifling Die Thunderb*stard Rakete into the top corner. Endless crosses achieved nothing in the second half.
Wolves remain hopeless.
19. Aston Villa →
It looked like Unai Emery’s side were handed the break they sorely needed when Sunderland went down to 10 men, but they still found a way to throw it away.
Another stroke of luck saw Matty Cash score what the commentators deemed a wondrous goal. OK. But the Villans never forced the issue, and Sunderland were the better team with 10 players.
18. West Ham →
The London Stadium atmosphere has gone from apathetic to openly hostile, and Graham Potter is feeling the full weight of it. A 2-1 home defeat to Palace means it’s now one win in five.
Watching Potter’s decision-making is as soul-destroying as being charged £9 for a beer in the away end, only to see someone turn around and pour a can of Carling into a plastic cup.
READ MORE: Premier League power rankings: Liverpool look like champions, Sunderland to survive and more
17. Nottingham Forest ↓
I’m not sure Evangelos Marinakis realises he’s employed a manager who just specialises in winning in Europe.
Swansea only needed four minutes of added time to dump them out of the domestic cup last week, while Burnley were able to hold them to a 1-1 draw on Saturday.
16. Brentford ↓↓
If you read last week’s ranking, you’ll know I was starting to get worried that I might have to recognise Keith Andrews as an actual football manager.
The Bees left their stinger in a struggling Aston Villa side and have since had their defensive guts strewn across the Premier League. They’re shipping two per game after Fulham beat them 3-1.
15. Burnley ↑
Burnley bagged a credible 1-1 draw against an established Premier League side last weekend. Scott Parker’s side don’t look prolific, but they were competitive again.
The Clarets may have snuck up a place had it not been for Ruben Amorim’s bi-monthly efforts to keep himself in a job for a few more weeks by beating Chelsea.
14. Brighton ↓
It’s poetic that Brighton showed their best and their worst during a 2-2 draw with Tottenham, with manager Fabian Hürzeler talking about “waves in development.
It was just last week that I wrote about how frustrating they can be and that inconsistency is their ceiling. A game of two halves, but an alright result.
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13. Manchester United ↑
The worst manager in the history of Manchester United has done what he does best. When the chips are down, Ruben finds a way to keep himself in a job for a few more weeks.
Despite Casemiro doing his level best to ruin the easiest win United will have this season, the Red Devils are still worthy of a rise in the rankings after beating a top-four contender.
12. Newcastle →
Aside from 30 minutes against Liverpool, where Newcastle forgot they’re the most boring side in the Premier League, Eddie Howe’s men have been a tough watch.
A 0-0 draw at Bournemouth quickly goes in the “we’ll take it and move on” pile, alongside stalemates with Leeds and Villa, plus a 1-0 win over Wolves.
11. Leeds United ↑
I can’t ignore that it’s taken five weeks for Leeds to score goals from open play. Still, perhaps there isn’t quite the disparity between their top-half defence and Championship attack I claimed?
Or, more likely, Wolves are utter sh*t. Either way, seven points from five games is a solid return, considering they played Arsenal and Newcastle. Daniel Farke might be OK at this level.
10. Chelsea ↓
It’s clear that BlueCo were severely hampered by Robert Sánchez’s early red card, but I’m not above kicking a man while he’s down—especially one from West London.
Wednesday’s Carabao Cup outing also had a touch of a transfer budget, trying to play chess with a football about it. Unfortunately, Lincoln fell just short of teeing up the social media punchlines.
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9. Fulham ↑
It feels like an eternity since Fulham won three home games in a row. I got bored of checking the record books, but it’s a welcome relief after struggling for most of 2025.
Beating Leeds, Brentford, and Cambridge is hardly pulling up trees, but it’s a step toward maintaining the status quo and finishing in their natural habitat of 10th to 14th place.
8. Manchester City ↑
Pep Guardiola’s side came within seconds of bruising their way to a win against Arsenal. Haaland morphed into Dortmund Erling in the first half, while City’s defence morphed into Dyche’s Burnley in the second.
Their rearguard action saw them happily concede 67% possession to Arteta’s side, while defending their box and not allowing a single big chance until the dying moments.
7. Everton ↑
The Merseyside derby is typically competitive, although recent trips to Anfield have only been competitive in the sense that Everton have kept the score down.
Only individual quality separated the sides last weekend, so this goes down as a rare missed opportunity to land a punch behind enemy lines. Still, David Moyes can be pleased with the effort.
6. Sunderland ↓
There’s a great expectation that Sunderland are overachieving and they’re going to come back to earth with a bang. However, Saturday’s performance says otherwise.
A 1-1 draw against 10 men is a superb result, even if it was Villa, and the Stadium of Light can definitely keep them up. They’re docked one place because Reinildo is a massive idiot.
READ MORE: Premier League news: Aston Villa break scoring drought in Sunderland draw but problems persist
5. Crystal Palace ↑
Steve Parish, Marc Guehi, and Eberechi Eze presented sizeable distractions this summer. Still, Oliver Glasner quietly continued compiling his bid for manager of the year.
Everyone should beat West Ham at the moment, but Palace’s 17-game unbeaten streak includes two trophies and results against Arsenal, City, and Liverpool.
4. Bournemouth ↓
Bournemouth are the polar opposite of Newcastle in their current form. Still, the Magpies managed to drag them down to their level on Saturday.
Antoine Semenyo remains the conductor of Andoni Iraola’s orchestra, though Saturday was more free jazz than symphony. A point keeps them in the top four, which is fine.
3. Arsenal ↑
Mikel Arteta once again demonstrated that Arsenal aren’t ready to win a title, because he won’t let them. His midfield selection of Merino, Rice, and Zubimendi was evidently wrong.
The half-time introduction of Eze may have only made a notable difference when he sprung Gabriel Martinelli late on, but he did enough to make you wonder what might have been.
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2. Tottenham →
It’s been a scary few months for Tottenham supporters. First, they became European champions; now, they sit third in the Premier League.
Their 2-2 draw with Brighton was reminiscent of last season, where we’d often see the best and worst of Ange’s team in the space of 90 minutes. I’d still call it a good result.
1. Liverpool →
If I ignore the fact that Liverpool are massively overperforming their xG for, against, and expected points tally, and Hugo Ekitike is suspended, everything is rosy at Anfield.
Alexander Isak made his Premier League debut, and Arne Slot’s side have won seven in a row across all competitions ahead of Crystal Palace, who may hand them a reality check.
