Week 9 Power Poll

My Ranking of the 20 EPL teams for week 9.

1.  Chelsea-- With a 5 point lead only 9 games into the season, it seems quite doubtful that anyone will have the firepower to trump Chelsea this season.  Maybe this is the magical season of a domestic and Champions League double.

2.  Arsenal-- With the recovery of both Walcott and Fabregas in addition to the whipping they put on City, the Gunners are in full control behind Chelsea. 

3.  Manchester United-- We may be seeing the beginnings of another star in the making at Old Trafford with the emergence of Mexican Javier Hernandez.  His two goal performance as well as netting the midweek game winner versus Wolves make him a player to watch in the upcoming weeks.

4.  Manchester City-- Thoughts were abundant a week ago that City could challenge Chelsea for control of the Premier League, but those ideas were shot down with the embarrassing blowout loss to Arsenal.  With Tevez possibly out for some time with an injury sustained, Italian Mario Balotelli must step up and show why City paid so much to have him.

5.  Tottenham-- Looking at this season, the Spurs have to be kicking themselves over the embarrassing losses to Wigan and West Ham.  With those six points, Tottenham is one point out of first.  In reality, Spurs are 7 out and looking at the Europa League. 

6.  West Bromwich Albion--  The Baggies just keep adding points and look to be a strong candidate for staying in the EPL next season.  Nothing stand out but just solid football and accumulating points more and more.

7.  Bolton Wanderers--  The Wanderers get this spot due to steady play and the ability to get timely goals and accumulate points in a similar manner to the Baggies.  Now, I fully expect them to drop to about 13-15 by the end of the season but so far a good showing.

8.  Sunderland--   Darren Bent has been the heart and soul for this squad for the last 2 years but he desperately needs help from players such as Gyan.  Maybe manager Steve Bruce can find a way to get both attackers on the field more often together because 8 goals scored from this squad is very low.

9.  Everton-- Everton has gotten 8 points out of the last 4 games after getting 2 from the first 5.  They are showing their quality by getting the needed goals to tie or win games lately.  This Pinnear situation is beginning to become more and more of an issue that needs to be handled.

10.  Newcastle United--  Someone needs to lock Andy Carroll up and only let him out for practices and matches.  For someone to make such a mess of his personal life yet keep scoring at an impressive pace, there is some admiration.  But at what point do the personal issues begin to affect his play on the pitch. 

11.  Aston Villa--  As evidenced by their draw with Chelsea, Villa are on the way back up in the table and seem to be a solid squad.  Emile Heskey and Ashley Young need to get more aggressive offensively so that Villa can put away teams and add points to their standing.

12.  Stoke City-- This squad is so up and down that manager Tony Pulis has no idea what to expect from week to week.  Every time I show faith and move them up the rankings, they lay an egg and have to be moved down. 

13.  Birmingham--  I keep waiting and waiting for Birmingham to make that move and go shooting up the standings and compete for 6th-8th place in the table.  Maybe they are what they have shown and they are really a 11-15 team.

14.  Wigan--  I have to give Roberto Martinez credit.  After the first few weeks, Wigan looked destined for relegation but now are slowly moving up.  The goal differential is still staggering     (-9)  so wins are very important right now.

15.  Blackpool-- When they are good they can play with anyone, when they are bad they are historically bad.  In 4 of their 5 losses, the goal differential is 2 or more.  If not for their 4-0 win to start the season versus Wigan, they would have the worst goal differential in the league.

16.  Fulham-- This is just not a good year to be a Cottager.  The inability to score goals even with a healthy Bobby Zamora has been fully evident.  Unless this squad learns how to turn draws into wins, Fulham will be right on the relegation line all season long. 

17.  Blackburn--  This squad is just so blah that I actually overlooked them the first time making this list.  Similar to Fulham in that they just cant score the goals to turn draws into wins.  Without a goal scoring option stepping forward, this squad will be right at the relegation line. 

18.  Liverpool--  Now that they have a steady ownership and are no longer in fear of losing 9 points, the Reds can finally move forward and string a few wins together.  They looked much better in a win over Blackburn so maybe this is the starting point to see the Liverpool of old.

19.  Wolverhampton--  The singular reason for giving Wolves this spot is that they hold the goal differential tiebreaker over West Ham.  This team is just not very good although they played their hearts out versus Chelsea in a 2-0 loss.

20.  West Ham United-- The positives this year... An unexpected win versus Tottenham and advancement in the Carling Cup.  The negatives this year... 2 different 3+ goal losses and a -10 goal differential as well as being dead last in the table.  I really wish there was a solution for the Hammers but it seems that the next 29 games are a back alley fight for survival.