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

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.