Premiership Power Rankings

No Premiership football this weekend? No problem. Power rankings time.

1. Chelsea (played 4, points 12, No change) - They might be in crisis off the field thanks to FIFA's pretty bizarre transfer ruling, but they lead the league and have been the most impressive team in the league's infant weeks.

2. Man Utd (p 4, pts 9, NC) - Their result over Arsenal keeps them second here. Their performance doesn't.

3. Arsenal (p 3, pts 6, NC) - Defeat at Old Trafford halted a good start but the International break comes at a good time. Another trip to Manchester to face City will test the Gunner's resolve.

4. Tottenham (p 4, pts 12, NC) - Spurs have full points but will have to cope with the loss of Luka Modric and the upcoming visit of Man Utd. Loving the Kranjcar deal.

5. Liverpool (p 4, pts 6, NC) - Somewhere down the road, we might look at the comeback at Bolton as the turning point of their season. Question marks about the defence are starting to gather momentum.

6. Man City (p 3, pts 9, NC) - A perfect record and many a perfect post game interview from the sky blue superstars. Things seem a little too rosy...

7. Aston Villa (p 3, pts 6, NC) - Very active at the transfer deadline but how long will the likes of Collins, Dunne and Warnock take to gel? There seems to be a hint of panic around Villa Park right now and a trip to cross-city rivals Birmingham might just expose it.

8. Everton (p 3, pts 3, Up 1) - Have they played well yet? No. Are there more than seven better teams in the division right now? Probably not.

9. Stoke (p 4, pts 7, Up 2) -I like their home record since entering the Premiership (12 wins and 5 draws in 21 games). I don't like their chances in their next home fixture versus Chelsea.

10. Sunderland (p 4, pts 6, Dn 2) - Next three weeks; Hull (h), Bunley (a), Wolves (h). Could the Black Cat's be the early surprise package?

11. West Ham (p 3, pts 4, Up 1) - Don't be surprised if they crawl through the next month; this team has a series of very tricky ties and limited squad depth to deal with the injuries that are bound to happen. Rumour has it they rejected a £14m bid for Matthew Upson at the transfer deadline.

12. Fulham (p 3, pts 3, Dn 2) - Difficult to know what to make of the Cottagers at this point; defeats at home to Chelsea and at Villa are nothing to be ashamed of, nor is a victory at Fratton Park anything to be too proud of. They might just nibble around either extreme of the table and settle right in the middle gaining all of about 9 column inches all year.

13. Burnley (p 4, pts 6, NC) - Burnley's tour of England's top club continues this week with a visit to Anfield. I hope they get some souvenirs from the gift shop because they aren't getting any points.

14. Hull (p 4, pts 4, Up 1) - The Tigers appear to have bought well and now boast a surfeit of attacking options. Their issues may lie at the other end of the field and the sale of Michael Turner could unsettle them in the short-term, particularly in their next game, at Turner's new team Sunderland.

15. Birmingham (p 4, pts 4, Up 1) - I've been trying to come up with a catchy name for their derby with Villa; The Spaggheti Junction derby? The Balti Belt derby? The Duran Duran derby? I'm going with the latter. Did you know Birmingham is twinned with Milan? How did that happen?!

16. Wolves (p 4, pts 4, Up 2) - Signing Segundo Castillo, a former midfield partner of Nenad Milijas and an Everton loanee last term, looks good business. Stefan Maierhofer, known as 'the neck,' becomes the tallest player in the league at 6'7. Don't imagine Peter Crouch will mind too much. At Blackburn next.

17. Blackburn (p 3, pts 1, Dn 3) - At home to Wolves next. Coincidently. Really need a win considering their following three games are against Everton, Villa and Arsenal.

18. Wigan (p 4, pts 3, Dn 1) - They have the lowest home attendances in the division to this point, understandably so considering their 0 goals scored, 6 goals conceded and 0 points. The Hammers travel to the DW (for some reason an abbreviation far uglier than JJB) in the next round.

19. Bolton (p 3, pts 0, NC) - A relegation 6-pointer in September! Alert the media! Bolton travel to Portsmouth with the loser just looking a little silly. The capture of Ivan Klasnic is reminiscent of Megson's predecessor Sam Allardyce.

20. Portsmouth (p 4, pts 0, NC) - The takeover got done and the deals got made. I'm just not convinced that the likes of Tommy Smith, Michael Brown, Mike Williamson and the various foreign imports are capable of helping them stay up. Aruna Dindane, a loan signing from Lens, could be an exciting pick up at least.