Last week Arsenal was cautiously looking over its shoulder at the teams below them, a worry that has now been lifted from its shoulders – because there’s no one below them to look at.
That’s right, the once mighty Gunners now find themselves propping up the APL as four of last week’s bottom five picked up impressive wins.
Blackburn seems like a good place to start with this week’s rundown as Steve Kean lifted some of the pressure off of himself and his team with a hard fought win over Arsenal. The win took them off the bottom position that they’d called home for the past three weeks. Marouane Chamakh’s late goal cost Rovers their two goal winning margin and an extra 0.52 points but a win is a win, and for Arsenal another defeat to add to their collection.
For the last few weeks it’s been a toss-up as to which Manchester team would get the highest score of the weekend. This week that honour goes to Sunderland and QPR.
Sunderland’s season prior to last weekend had involved four winless games and striker Asamoah Gyan swanning off to the United Arab Emirates to join a club which probably isn’t as ‘important’ as he thinks it is. But the Black Cats seem to have moved on from his departure by taking apart, before now, a defensively sound Stoke side. The four goal winning margin is a welcome cheer for the Mackem fans who had only seen three goals to cheer before hand. Their points haul of 8.36 points has moved them up five places.
Sunderland’s achievement was topped only by QPR who currently find themselves in the heady position of fifth. Wolves’ decline, which has seen them pick up a mere 2.13 points in the last two weeks, was made a whole lot worse by a rampant Rangers side who were 0-2 up in 10 minutes. The eventual 0-3 scoreline meant that the Hoops scooped up an away win bonanza of 8.82 points – the second highest score of the season so far.
To the top of the league now and the much anticipated clash between Manchester United and Chelsea. The high standard of the two opponents meant that whoever came out on top would be rewarded handsomely, and it was United who extended their gap at the top of the league with a score of 6.98 points.
To wrap up this week’s APL we will take a look at Harry Redknapp’s resurgent Spurs side. Emmanuel Adebayor could prove to be a shrewd piece of business and his scoring form has helped Spurs clock up 16.65 from the last two weeks. Liverpool on the other hand have now lost two in a row and have dropped to 8th. Liverpool will be hoping to stop their rot against Wolves at Anfield next weekend while Spurs will look to continue their surge upwards at Wigan.
- Top Score: QPR: 8.82
- Lowest Score: Stoke 0.71
- Top draw score: Fulham: 4.22
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Points | Prem Pos | |
| 1 | Manchester United | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 37.17 | 1 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 32.08 | 2 |
| 3 | Newcastle United | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 23.75 | 4 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 23.63 | 3 |
| 5 | Queens Park Rangers | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 21.60 | 9 |
| 6 | Stoke City | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | -2 | 21.02 | 5 |
| 7 | Aston Villa | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 20.68 | 6 |
| 8 | Liverpool | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 20.26 | 8 |
| 9 | Tottenham Hotspur | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 19.80 | 11 |
| 10 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 19.05 | 10 |
| 11 | Sunderland | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 19.00 | 12 |
| 12 | Everton | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 18.40 | 7 |
| 13 | Norwich City | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -2 | 17.40 | 13 |
| 14 | Swansea City | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -2 | 17.09 | 14 |
| 15 | Wigan Athletic | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -3 | 15.85 | 15 |
| 16 | Fulham | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | -3 | 14.70 | 18 |
| 17 | West Bromwich Albion | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | -5 | 14.05 | 20 |
| 18 | Bolton Wanderers | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | -5 | 13.96 | 19 |
| 19 | Blackburn Rovers | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -3 | 13.57 | 16 |
| 20 | Arsenal | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -8 | 13.06 | 17 |
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