Every month I’ll be updating my Premier League power rankings and tiers. My first power ranking of the season can be seen in my season predictions. The changes from the last ranking will be shown in brackets – followed by the teams current position in the league table.

Tier one: Title challengers

1: Manchester City (no change – 2nd)

While they remain on top, the gap down to Liverpool is smaller than before the season. They won three must-win games in very convincing fashion, but failed to win against Tottenham (although they were by far the better team on that occasion). They’ll most likely score the most goals and have the best goal difference come May, but I’m less convinced that they will also get the most points.

2: Liverpool FC (no change – 1st)

Their schedule has been fairly similar to that of Manchester City, but The Reds remain the only team in the league with maximum points and they have looked very convincing in three out of their four games. In spite of short preseasons all of their front season seem to be hitting their stride from the beginning of the season.

Tier two: Battle for top 4

3: Tottenham Hotspurs (no change – 9th)

In my preseason power rankings I considered giving Spurs their own tier because I saw them as clearly the third best team in the league. I’m much less certain of that now, and this whole tier is now a lot closer together than a month ago. They might benefit from the international break and the end of the international transfer window, but they’ll be disappointed to lose a 2-0 against Arsenal.

4: Arsenal FC (no change – 5th)

After the first two games (wins against Newcastle and Burnley) I felt my preseason optimism about The Gunners was justified, but the games against Liverpool and Tottenham didn’t show much improvement from last season. They seemed naive and borderline tactically clueless at Anfield and could easily have lost more than 3-1. Big money signing Nicolas Pepe has shown he’s a quality player and offers something difference (I particularly like his willingness to run in behind defenders) but he still needs to add more of an end product. Aubameyang still looks like a decent bet for a Golden Boot winner.

5: Chelsea FC (no change – 11th)

In the first four games of the season, Chelsea have looked like exactly what they are: a young, talented but inexperienced side. They’ve played very well at times, but they have failed to close games in their strong periods. They look too vulnerable when they lose possession (particularly against against Manchester United where they lost 4-0) and have been punished for not controlling games well enough.

6: Manchester United (no change – 8th)

Any optimism Man United fans might have had after their day 1 4-0 win against Chelsea should be long gone by now. They’ve picked up 2 points from three games since and have generally look uninspired in their performances. It was particularly worrying for me how they completely stepped off the gas once they took the lead against Southampton, apparently wanting to defend a 1-0 lead for 75 minutes. New signings Daniel James (who has far exceeded my expectations) and Aaron Wan-Bissaka have been their best players so far, and look like good signings, but I still have my doubts over Harry Maguire.

Tier three: Could a new team break into the top 6?

7: Leicester City (no change – 3rd)

It’s still too early in the season, but if September looks anything like August Leicester could very well find themselves in 5th on my next power ranking. I did not have the opportunity to watch them day 1 against Wolves, but they looked the more likely winner at Stamford Bridge on day 2 and have since beaten Sheffield United and Bournemouth (games you’d expect them to win, to be fair).

8: Everton FC (1 up – 6th)

Everton have mostly moved up because Wolves have moved down, but they still have reason to be encouraged by their start to the season (7 points from 4 games is a good return). They will only get 1 point from their two games against Crystal Palace and Aston Villa but they have won both of their home games, which will be a big part of challenging for the top 6.

Tier four: Middle of the pack

9: Wolverhampton Wanderers (1 down – 17th)

The toll of European football seems to have hit Wolves who have only gotten 3 points from their first 4 games (their schedule has also not been easy). They will play at least 6 more games in Europe which is why I don’t think they can challenge for the top 6. I don’t think they’ll be hit as hard as Burnley were last season, and I also think they can go much further in the Europa League.

10: West Ham United (1 up – 7th)

They looked horrible on day 1, losing 5-0 at home against Man City (although I have a feeling Man City are gonna make a lot of teams look horrible), but will be pleased with 7 points from the last 3 games. Record signing Sebastien Haller looks an instant upgrade with 3 goals and he has been causing lots of problems for opposing defenses.

11: Bournemouth (1 down – 15th)

Based on their position in the league, they might have deserved a bigger drop but their schedule has not been easy and I generally don’t want to overreact to things this early in the season. Still without a clean sheet, they will want to tighten things up at the back (without getting too pragmatic) if they’re to challenge for the European places.

12: Crystal Palace (3 up – 4th)

3 goals scored and 2 conceded tells you most things you need to know about Palace’s first 4 games. They looked like relegation candidates on day 2 in their loss to Sheffield United, but won at Old Trafford the following week. They’re strong defensively, but very unexciting to watch.

13: Southampton FC (1 down – 13th)

After a horrible display on day 1 against Burnley they’ve bounced back nicely, causing lots of problems for Liverpool in their 2-1 defeat before beating Brighton and then getting a point against Man United. They’ll hope to get Nathan Redmond back from injury soon and they still don’t seem to have found a quality Premier League striker.

14: Newcastle United (1 down – 14th)

Outside of their away win against Tottenham is has not been an encouraging start to the season for Newcastle. They still look defensively strong, which will keep them out of the relegation battle, but they would expect more than one point from the two games against Norwich and Watford.

15: Burnley (4 up – 12th)

It looks like the Burnley side from the 2017/18 season has turned up again, rather than the very poor side of last season. Having already faced Arsenal, Wolves and Liverpool, they would not have expected a high point return from the first four games, and they’ll be very happy with their 3-0 win on day 1 against Southampton.

Tier five: Relegation battle

16: Norwich City (no change – 19th)

Norwich has brought a very modern brand of football to the Premier League, playing out from the back with technically gifted players up front. Only four teams (Man United, Tottenham, Liverpool and Man City) have scored more goals than Norwich this season, but they also have the worst defensive record in the league with 10 goals conceded. Their attacking abilities is what I think will give them the edge in many games against sides from the lower half of the table.

17: Brighton (no change – 16th)

There has not been much of a surprise in the way Brighton have started the season. A very unexciting side I see them spending most of the season right around the relegation line, and it will be very tight if they will stay up or not.

18: Aston Villa (no change – 18th)

The home win on day 3 is the type of performance that help Villa stay in the Premier League, but they have failed to gain any points outside of that Friday night game. They were very unlucky not to get a point at Crystal Palace this past weekend and it’s still unclear to me if they’ll manage to build enough of a unit to stay up.

19: Sheffield United (1 up – 10th)

It’s very rare that you see tactical innovation from promoted sides like we’ve seen from Sheffield United. Their unique attacking use of their center backs looks like something you’d expect out of a Pep Guardiola side, not a Chris Wilder side. Only one defeat in 4 games in very encouraging, but I will see it over a longer period before I’m convinced they can stay in the Premier League.

20: Watford (6 down – 20th)

In my preseason rankings I called Watford the biggest wilcard in the league, and it seems we’ve gotten the bad side of Watford this year. 1 point from 4 games, with 2 goals scored and 8 conceded is below what even I thought possible. Having faced Brighton (home), Everton (away), West Ham (home) and Newcastle (away) they’ve even had a fairly soft schedule until now and they’ll to improve greatly if they’re to have any chance of staying up.