Premier League Power Rankings: Brighton continue to impress, Aston Villa surge

Brighton and Hove Albion's 5-0 win over Crystal Palace was the highlight of the weekend, ensuring the Seagulls remain this season's pleasant surprise for another week

Oct 18, 2026 at 3:29 pm ET • 5 min read

Seven weeks into the Premier League season, teams are starting to sort themselves into groups and one thing is starting to become very clear – there are more average-to-poor teams than usual, the collection of them continuing to bounce around the table even as preseason rust becomes a thing of the past.

Manchester City, who are in first place despite the cloud of their financial breaches, and Arsenal remain the cream of the crop while Brighton and Hove Albion are the unexpectedly exciting side of the season thus far. Liverpool and Chelsea feel a step behind but still feel on course for strong campaigns. Every other team feels somewhat flawed, in some ways notably unspectacular but the places on the table need to be filled by someone and so a number of teams currently find themselves in surprising spots. The surprises are not always good ones, though, depending on the team in question.

Some are doing their best to claw themselves out of the surprisingly bad circumstances they find themselves in, Bournemouth and Fulham each picking up their first wins of the season this weekend while Aston Villa added another to their tally after a poor start. Brighton, meanwhile, are joined by Leeds United in finding themselves further up the table than some might expect. The early season confusion in the standings has not dissipated just yet, though, resulting in another fascinating batch of power rankings.

Here's a check-in on the Premier League, seven weeks into the season.

1. Manchester City (+1)

Manchester City will only get so much credit for a lopsided win over Ipswich Town but they rise to the top because they boast a notable lead over Arsenal, who were the team to beat at the start of the campaign.

2. Arsenal (-1)

Arsenal were not their most dominant selves in a narrow win over Nottingham Forest but they also went with a rotated team and their depth handled the challenge well enough.

3. Brighton and Hove Albion (+1)

There are some reasonable caveats to make seven games into the season but Brighton have excelled on multiple occasions already this campaign, Sunday's 5-0 win over Crystal Palace included, and have earned their high ranking here, without a doubt.

4. Liverpool (+1)

Liverpool benefited from a red card in their win over Brentford but even then, they are starting to shake some of the newness out of the system as Andoni Iraola continues his first season in charge.

5. Chelsea (+1)

Maybe, just maybe, Chelsea's early-season defensive chaos is behind them. Stiffer tests than Everton await but a relatively straightforward win over the Toffees is not nothing.

6. Leeds United (+1)

Leeds look like a midtable team but in a league full of them, someone's bound to rise above the rest. Daniel Farke's side have an admirable consistency about them, one that was on display in their draw against Manchester United, which is why they land here.

7. Brentford (-4)

Brentford have not maintained their surprisingly strong start the way Brighton have but they still feel like one of the stronger midtable teams, even in defeat against Liverpool.

8. Manchester United (+1)

Manchester United's underlying statistics indicate that they should be better than 13th place in the standings but the Red Devils seem impressively resigned to mediocrity. When they solve their own problems is anyone's guess.

9. Everton (+1)

Maybe the fact that they have one whole striker on their roster would be more costly in a different season but in a campaign with strong midtable energy, Everton are comfortably snug here.

10. Aston Villa (+9)

The thing about that midtable energy is that once you hit this section, there's a little bit of a splitting-hairs feeling. Aston Villa have work to do to dig out of their early season woes but the thing is, they are starting to do it. Expect them to climb up these rankings in the next few weeks before hitting a period of consistency.

11. Bournemouth (+2)

Similar to Villa, it may have taken a while for Bournemouth to pick up their first win but their underlying statistics indicate that they are on course for a steady first season under Marco Rose.

12. Sunderland (-4)

Some of Sunderland's early season results might come in handy over the course of a long campaign and there's no shame in losing to Bournemouth but it's time to keep an eye on the Black Cats, who really could go in either direction from here.

13. Fulham (+4)

This is really where the splitting hairs action begins because it feels like as many as eight teams are bad enough to be in the relegation mix right now, Fulham included. The Cottagers sit above the rest for the time being, though, because they actually won their first game this season.

14. Ipswich Town (-2)

Being on the wrong side of a thrashing by Manchester City is not actually indicative of Ipswich Town's overall qualities but it's officially time to ask if they can sustain the momentum of their overperformance to start the season.

15. Nottingham Forest (-4)

Nottingham Forest held their own against Arsenal despite defeat and the underlying numbers suggest that Oliver Glasner's side are better than the results suggest. Five points from seven games is troubling, though there is still time to correct course this season.

16. Hull City (-1)

Reality might finally be setting in for Hull City, who rode their luck in the Championship last season and continued to do so at the start of this campaign. A drab defeat to Fulham is not a sign of strength, even if their early results serve as a cushion for now.

17. Newcastle United (-3)

There are not a lot of redeeming qualities to speak of for Newcastle United, who are learning the hard way that selling all your top players can prove costly, a loss to Villa the latest example.

18. Tottenham Hotspur (+2)

Tottenham Hotspur are the last winless team in the league and could change that on Monday against Coventry City. If last week's draw against Manchester United is indicative of anything, they could race up the chart like Villa and Bournemouth did, but time will tell if they can actually turn things around.

19. Coventry City (-1)

Unlike Hull and Ipswich, Coventry are the quintessential promotion side, struggling to cope with the demands of the Premier League in just about every way. They should look at Monday's game against Spurs as a winnable one but that alone will not take them out of the relegation race.

20. Crystal Palace (-4)

Crystal Palace are not in the drop zone right now but they were pummeled by Brighton and rank dead last in the Premier League on expected goal differential. Feels like a long season's ahead, whether they like it or not.