It was a crazy fortnight in world football. Transfers galore (we’ll get to that in a separate post) and several upsets in England. How will that affect our ranking?
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Disclaimer/friendly reminder before we start: This is a subjective ranking, meant to foster debate as much as settle it. See the methodology to get caught up on how this all works. This ranking reflects all games through Aug. 31.
These are the clubs deemed closest to the top 5 right now. They could very easily move into the top 5 if they play their cards right (and win games).
This group now includes Manchester City, who were (as absurd as it now sounds) first (1) in our last ranking! Well, Man City are now out of the top 5 altogether after back-to-back losses. Who replaces them? You’ll have to read on.
The other honorable mentions are Bayern Munich and Chelsea. That’s it. Just three clubs this week, mainly because Serie A is only two games into their campaign.
These clubs are seen as not quite good enough for consideration yet but they certainly have our attention. This is based largely on their start to the season as well as whether they are in the Champions League:
From Germany: Eintracht Frankfurt, Borussia Dortmund
From Italy: Napoli, Juventus
From Spain: Athletic Bilbao
From France: Monaco
From Portugal: Porto, Benfica
That out of the way, let’s move on to our Top 5!
As Spurs supporters, this one is painful. It’s also questionable, seeing how Gunners just suffered their first loss of the season whilst teams like Bayern remain unbeaten and untied. But then this whole thing is questionable, innit? In fact, that’s very much the point of this whole exercise! So have at it and tell us why this is wrong. Who knows, you may even convince us.
Anyway, Arsenal were one ridiculous Dominik Szoboszlai freekick away from escaping Anfield with a point yesterday. There are just two unbeaten Premier League teams left now: The aforementioned Chelsea and Liverpool, whom we’ll hear about in a minute. Given the fact that Old Trafford, where Arsenal won on opening weekend, is still a tough away fixture, this tips the balance in Gunners’ favor.
We also have to give Arsenal a chance to integrate the new signings. Eberechi Eze saw just 20 minutes of action in his debut but created one chance. Martin Zubimendi, Noni Madueke, and Cristhian Mosquera have so far not really done much in limited minutes. Then there’s Viktor Gyökeres, who is almost certainly going to be a bust. Yes, we went there.
Upcoming fixtures: Nottingham Forest (Sept. 13), at Athletic Club Bilbao (Sept. 16), Man City (Sept. 21)
Also watch for: North London derby (Nov. 22), Bayern in the Champions League (Nov. 26), at Chelsea (Nov. 29)
Barca drop a spot due to dropping points at Rayo Vallecano yesterday. Vallecano are a Conference League team this year so not a complete minnow. Plus they play on a tiny pitch in an unorthodox stadium but still, these are games mighty Barca should be winning. Especially if they hope to move up the list. Instead they are one slot lower.
Indeed Barca did not look good at all yesterday. Joan Garcia saved them from going a goal down early before a questionable penalty handed Barca the lead shortly before halftime. Dani Olmo also missed a pair of sitters on either side of halftime. Vallecano then took control of the game and finally equalized off a brilliant corner in the 67th minute. They should have had the winner a few minutes later but were once again bailed out by Garcia, who was absolute superb all game.
Anyway, Vallecano may have supplied a strategy for how to contain Barca, if not beat them: quick, physical play in confined spaces. Maybe that wasn’t a big secret. Maybe that’s how Inter Milan got the better of Barca in the Champions League semis last season. Maybe it will prove Barca’s undoing this season again. These are all open questions that can only be answered with the passage of time. They play these games for a reason, after all.
Upcoming fixtures: Valencia (Sept. 14), at Newcastle (Sept. 18), Getafe (Sept. 21)
Also watch for: PSG (Oct. 1), Real Madrid (Oct. 26), Athletic Club (Nov. 23), at Chelsea (Nov. 25)
Real move up one spot thanks to City’s departure from the list. Xabi Alonso’s men have started the season with three wins from three league matches, but didn’t really impress in any of them. This weekend they had to come from a goal down to defeat Mallorca at home.
Still, it’s hard to argue that Real don’t deserve their spot in this list. We’re quite excited about their acquisitions this summer. Dean Huijsen may just be the best of the lot (Trent who?). We said he may emerge as one of the world’s best ball-playing defenders in a couple of seasons. There are reasons to believe he could already be there.
Upcoming fixtures: At Real Sociedad (Sept. 13), home to Marseille in Champions League action (Sep. 16)
Also watch for: Madrid derby (Sept. 28), at Getafe (Oct. 19), Barcelona (Oct. 26), at Liverpool (Nov. 4)
Liverpool move up two slots thanks the their unbeaten and untied start to the season. It’s true that none of the wins came easy, not even the opening day 4-2 triumph over Bournemouth. Even yesterday’s victory over (supposedly) prominent Arsenal left a lot to be desired.
Somewhat surprisingly, Liverpool’s defence actually had their best game of the season yesterday. This was partly helped no doubt by Arsenal’s lacklustre strategy that brings to mind Serie A games from the early 1980s. One can’t help but be a bit concerned over a back line that features 34-year old Virgil van Dijk in such a prominent role and Joe Gomez the only depth at centreback. Giovanni Leoni is a project signing for that position; at 18 he is far too young for substantial minutes in the Premiership at this position.
But wins are wins are wins and ‘Pool have three in three games to start the season. Their position in the ranking is also helped by their status as defending Premier League champions.
Upcoming fixtures: at Burnley (Sept. 14), Atletico Madrid (Sept. 17), Everton (Sept. 20)
Also watch for: at Chelsea (Oct. 4), at Frankfurt (Oct. 22), Real Madrid (Nov. 4), at Man City (Nov. 8)
We debated giving PSG this spot last time but were dissuaded by their (comparatively) slow start to the season. In retrospect, that was a mistake. Yes, PSG’s opening trio of games (Tottenham in the UEFA Super Cup, and a pair of 1-nil victories over Nantes and Angers, respectively) left a lot to be desired. This weekend they showed us why they are deserving of this spot with a 6-3 dismantling of Toulouse that featured about as nice a hat trick as you’ll ever see by Joao Neves.
Upcoming fixtures: Lens (Sept. 14), Atalanta (Sept. 17), at Marseille (Sept. 21)
Also watch for: at Barca (Oct. 1), Bayern Munich (Nov. 4), at Lyon (Nov. 9), at Monaco (Nov. 30), at Athletic Club (Dec. 10)
Your thoughts on this ranking? Would you have somebody ahead of PSG? What do you think of Arsenal over Bayern at 5?
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