Power Rankings: Liverpool and Stoke among big winners

Liverpool, Stoke City, West Brom, Everton, Leicester City and Tottenham were the weekend’s six biggest Power Rankings winners.

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

It helps, particularly in the early stages of the season, before every team has played all the others, to highlight the real value of the points won and lost.

West Ham, for example, have 21 points in the actual Premier League table but have a massive 47 in the Power Rankings having won at Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City. Chelsea on the other hand have two less points than in reality, with results like Saturday’s 1-0 home win over Norwich City failing to impress.

For the Irons, this alternative table highlights the true value of the points they’ve won – points that relatively few other teams will get – but also leaves them wondering ‘what if’, with bonus points at Emirates Stadium, Anfield and the Etihad tempered by home defeats to Leicester City and Bournemouth.

Week 13

Liverpool – 8: It was one of several impressive results over the weekend, but Liverpool claim their share of top billing after a comprehensive 4-1 win over Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

Stoke City – 8: Joining them are Stoke City, who were perhaps surprisingly given their good form the longest-odds winners of the weekend. After Bojan’s early goal, the Potters defence held firm for a fourth straight clean sheet on the road in the Premier League.

West Brom – 8: Completing the trio of big winners are West Brom as Tony Pulis continued his fine home record against Arsenal, who missed a late penalty through Santi Cazorla to slip from fourth to ninth in the Power Rankings.

Everton – 5: The biggest winners of the weekend were Everton, who thrashed Aston Villa 4-0 at Goodison Park, but Roberto Martinez’s side were odds-on favourites against the Premier League’s bottom side and so have to settle for five points.

Leicester City – 5: Also claiming five points were Leicester City as Jamie Vardy scored for a 10th consecutive Premier League game to help them to an impressive 3-0 win over struggling Newcastle United at St James’ Park. West Ham and Crystal Palace are the only top-10 sides the Foxes have beaten so far, however, explaining their relatively low Power Rankings points total.

Tottenham – 4: It might seem harsh, but Tottenham were odds-on to beat West Ham at White Hart Lane on Sunday and so claim only four points following Manuel Lanzini’s late consolation for the visitors. Like Leicester, Spurs are in need of a big scalp to climb the Power Rankings table having so far beaten only Manchester City of last season’s top nine.

Manchester United – 3: It was far from straightforward, but Troy Deeney’s late own goal allowed Manchester United to claim a standard three points following a 2-1 win at Watford.

Bournemouth – 2: They will rue two dropped points after blowing a two-goal lead, but Bournemouth’s 2-2 draw at Swansea City at least earns them an extra point in the Power Rankings after they went into the game as firm outsiders.

Chelsea – 2: The Premier League champions, however, lose another point despite getting back to winning ways against Norwich City. They will need to chalk up some far more impressive results if they are to climb out of the lower reaches of the Power Rankings table.

Swansea City – 0.5: Garry Monk argued Swansea City’s 2-2 draw against Bournemouth was a point gained after they fought back from 2-0 down, but in reality it represented another poor result for the struggling Welsh side.

Power Rankings

Discuss this on the new-look Your Say forums.

The post Power Rankings: Liverpool and Stoke among big winners appeared first on teamtalk.com.