Power Rankings: Alternative PL table after week 21

Sunderland, Leicester City and West Ham were the big midweek Power Rankings winners, with Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United all suffering.

In Power Rankings, we award points from 0.5 to 10, decided by an algorithm based on bookmaker odds and winning margins.

It rewards teams scoring lots of goals and also those defying expectations but sees odds-on favourites penalised for sneaking past inferior opponents by the odd goal.

With last season’s top four of Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United losing an incredible 23 games between them already this season, it sees some surprise names at the top of the Power Rankings…

Week 21

Sunderland – 6: Defeat to Swansea City would have left Sunderland six points from safety, but a 4-2 win in a game dominated by mistakes from the officials but ultimately won by a Jermain Defoe hat-trick earned the Black Cats some precious points in their Premier League survival fight.

Leicester City – 5: A 0-0 draw at Tottenham certainly would not have been a bad result, but Robert Huth’s late header ended the Foxes’ goal drought and moved them level on points with Arsenal at the summit. All they need to do now is reel in West Ham in the Power Rankings…

West Ham – 5: Bournemouth had lost only one of their last nine games, against Arsenal, going into Tuesday night’s clash with West Ham, but the Power Rankings leaders once again defied the odds as they came from behind to win 3-1 at Dean Court.

West Brom – 4.5: Chelsea’s improvement under Guus Hiddink left West Brom as rank outsiders going into Wednesday night’s game at Stamford Bridge, but goals from Craig Gardner and James McClean earned Albion an impressive draw. The Baggies’ continued ability to take points from the Premier League’s elite clubs has moved them up to fifth in the Power Rankings.

Aston Villa – 4: Having failed to win a Premier League game since the opening day of the season, you might think Villa would have been long odds to beat high-flying Crystal Palace, but in reality they were only marginal outsiders. Still, the 1-0 victory was worth four much-needed points to at least keep the Midlanders within sight of the sides above them.

Stoke City – 4: A generous evens with the bookies, Stoke made the most of Gary O’Neil’s first-half sending-off to record a 3-1 win over Norwich City that moved them up to seventh, within four points of a Champions League spot.

Everton – 3: Having beaten Manchester City in the Capital One Cup last week, Everton got a draw at the Etihad Stadium that they will be hoping to repeat in the second leg of the semi-final. However it was achieved, it was an impressive result for Roberto Martinez’s side.

Southampton – 3: They had lost eight of their last 10 games going into Wednesday night’s clash with Watford yet completely dominated against the high-flying Hornets, recording a 2-0 win.

Newcastle United – 2: Having been 2-0 and then 3-2 down, Newcastle’s point against Manchester United on Tuesday night will have felt like much more than that. In Power Rankings it is actually worth more – the Magpies were surprisingly rank outsiders to take anything from Louis van Gaal’s stuttering side.

Arsenal – 1: Arsene Wenger was understandably frustrated to see Arsenal concede a last-minute goal in their 3-3 draw at Liverpool on Wednesday night. He will hope those two dropped points do not prove crucial in the Premier League title race.

Liverpool – 1: Jurgen Klopp was pleased with certain aspects of Liverpool’s performance at Anfield but is planning more work on set pieces after they again proved his side’s undoing. The Reds still aren’t realising their potential.

Chelsea – 0.5: There have been signs of a revival under Guus Hiddink, but a 2-2 home draw against West Brom was a further reminder of the rebuilding job ahead at Stamford Bridge.

Manchester City – 0.5: It was hard to disagree with Manuel Pellegrini that his side should have been awarded a late penalty and the chance to beat Everton, but Roger East waved away appeals to leave City third in the Premier League.

Manchester United – 0.5: Paul Scholes felt “loads better” about United after their 3-3 draw at Newcastle, our man Ian Watson less so. However it was achieved, a draw at the Premier League’s 18th-placed side can only go down as dropped points for a side with title ambitions.

Power Rankings

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