VSN's English Premier League Power Rankings - Week 1
By: Rudi and Chrispy
By: Rudi and Chrispy
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[TD="align: center"]Very impressive start to the season to Chelsea winning 2-0 at Wigan. The debut of Hazard got off to a blazing start, just hope he can continue it all season. But let’s stop there as it was against a wigan team that will be bottom of the table and possibly relegated at the end of the season.[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]The defending champions started off this season just as they ended last year’s campaign. After falling down 2-1 to newly promoted Southampton, Edin Dzeko and Samir Nasri rescued the full 3 points for City. Blue Moon fans were dealt a sigh of relief after finding out Sergio Aguero will only miss a month after what looked to be a devastating injury.[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]The Red Devils got off to a very slow on the road at Everton. United fell 1-0 in their opener and were not able to get much going in the final third. United will need Nani or Ashley Young to step up and provide them some width if they want to compete with the likes of City and Chelsea.[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]Newcastle looks like the real deal and it is carrying over from last year after beating the Spurs 2-1 at home in front of over 50,000 fans. On top of that Newcastle has submitted a bid for Andy Carroll who seems unhappy at Liverpool.[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]Can you ask for a better start from Everton? Beating one of the top teams at home on opening day, 1-0. Between Fellaini, Howard and the defensive back line you couldn't ask for anything better. Not to mention one of their top signings didn’t even play, Mirallas signed too late to play in the game so look for him in their next game.[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]The Gunners started off this season with a performance that mirrored many of their matches last season. The only difference this time was there was no Robin Van Persie to rescue them late. Summer transfers Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud give Arsenal fans reason to be excited going forward.[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]Not the way AVB wanted to start his new campaign as head coach. They still have the drama of Luka Modrić and have signed Emmanuel Adebayor from Man City on a permanent signing. They get to face West Brom next at home who are coming off a 3-0 win over Liverpool.[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]A very good win for Fulham at home crushing Norwich 5-0. But it is against a Norwich side that isn’t very good to begin with and a team that will probably be relegated come the end of the season. Also have the Dempsey saga, will he move on or stay? All signs point to him leaving. They are in for a very big challenge their next game facing Manchester United who are coming off a loss.[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]Swansea looked as good as you could get in their 5-0 win over QPR. The bad news for them though is that last season QPR lost to Bolton at home 4-0 but Bolton where the ones that got relegated. Also it looks like Scott Sinclair will be making a move to Man City after not agreeing to a new contract.[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]What a disaster start for Liverpool. Falling 3-0 to lowly West Brom was not the start new manager Brendan Rodgers had in mind. Liverpool fans must wonder if Luis Suarez will ever be the potent goal scorer that they all hoped he would for the club.[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]Sunderland fans have to be happy getting a point out of the opening tilt with Arsenal. Their next two fixtures against Reading and Swansea should tell a lot as to where they will finish in this year’s table.[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]West Ham got off to a good start in the premier league beating Aston Villa 1-0 at home. Hopefully they can continue this throughout the season as they look like a team that will finish mid to lower of the table. There is also talk that they want to buy Wolves winger Matt Jarvis to help bolster their squad.[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]The Potters were denied 3 points in their opening match against Reading thanks to a stoppage time penalty. They nearly lost moments later on a sparkling free kick that curled right over the cross bar. It remains to be seen if Stoke will have the offensive fire power to compete with the best of the Premier League. Their 36 goals scored last season were the least in the whole league.[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]The newly promoted club surprised a lot of people by putting up a great fight against the defending champs. Super sub Rickie Lambert gives fans of Southampton reason to be optimistic going forward this season.[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]The arrival of Romelu Lukaku is a great addition for this team. It showed in their opener as Lukaku scored capping off the 3-0 rout of Liverpool. A dream start for a squad that most consider to be one of the weakest in the league.[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]In back to back seasons QPR has lost their opening day game at home 0-4 and 0-5 respectively. The good news was at the end of the season they didn’t relegated…..barely, will they be so lucky this time around? It seems like they should have the talent to survive after spending a good amount of money on transfers.[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]Despite falling to West Ham, Villa fans have to be happy with their team’s performance in the opener. It was the first time Villa has shown any signs of going forward in over a year. New manager Paul Lambert is instilling belief in the [;ayers and the fans of this team, something that Alex McLeish never could do.[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]The Royals were able to salvage a late point against Stoke which was a very nice start to their season. It will be interesting to see if they can continue picking up points as they are going to need all of them they can get. Expect Reading to be battling it out to avoid relegation as the season goes on.[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]It was going to a tough challenge for Wigan to beat Chelsea from the beginning. Now there is talk Moses will be leaving to join Chelsea. Wigan at the end of the season may find themselves relegated.[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]It can only get better from here right? Not much worse you can do then lose a game 5-0. Future doesn’t look bright for this team but they did sign Bassong from Tottenham. Now they get to play at home against a QPR side that are also coming off a 5-0 defeat but where at home.
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