Power Rankings: Spurs in, Dutch gatecrasher, no Liverpool? | OneFootball

The weekly Power Rankings are back! Every week we produce a rolling tier of the ten best teams in Europe based on their recent performances.

Is it too early in the season to be judging every side? Probably, but we’re doing it anyway.

This week’s biggest call is the exclusion of Liverpool. No, not even a Premier League title gains you automatic qualification into our Power Rankings.

The Reds have bounced back from their Community Shield defeat to Crystal Palace with two wins from the first two rounds of the league. But they were fortunate to come away with six points from enthralling encounters (for different reasons) against Bournemouth and Newcastle United.

Arne Slot’s defence has been exposed badly and that’s the main reason they do not feature this week. Which clubs have made it instead? Let’s find out.

Power Rankings:

10. NEC Nijmegen

Gatecrashing our Power Rankings at no.10 is NEC Nijmegen, who currently sit atop of the Eredivisie with three wins from three.

They are not only undefeated, but they have utterly destroyed their opposition by an aggregate scoreline of 12-1. It’s been a proper team effort too, with none of their players scoring more than two goals.

Yeah, sure, they’ve face some of the worst teams in the division, but let us enjoy this. Let us bask in the glory of our new Dutch overlords!

9. Galatasaray

After signing Victor Osimhen on a permanent basis and nabbing Leroy Sane on a free transfer, Galatasaray were heavy favourites to win the Super Lig this year. They are wearing the tag lightly so far, winning their opening three games at a canter.

The Turkish giants have scored ten goals without reply, although they are yet to meet any of the top sides in the league. Still, one imagines they will shake off the ultra efficient Trabzonspor, who have won each of their matches 1-0, and retain the title for a fourth consecutive year.

Read – UEFA Champions League draw and fixtures in full for 2025/26

8. Sporting CP

Once again, the level of opposition has to be taken into account, but Sporting Clube de Portugal are continuing where they left off last season.

After winning the title on the final day, before securing The Double in the cup final, the Lisbon outfit have won three out of three to start the new term. Like Nijmegen, they’ve scored 12 goals and conceded just one. Who needs Viktor Gyokeres?

7. Arsenal

An opening day win at Old Trafford should never be sniffed at, but it has to be said that Arsenal were pretty poor value for their 1-0 win over Manchester United.

The Gunners following it up with an absolute paddling against Leeds, easily destroying Daniel Farke’s ill-equipped side at home. You can’t put a huge amount of stock in a victory over a promoted team this early on, but you can see them doing this to many an opponent over the course of the season.

The major concern for Arsenal will be the injuries they have sustained already, with Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz already suffering setbacks. Maybe this year isn’t their year either.

6. Spurs

They may have missed out on Eberechi Eze, but Tottenham Hotspur have swooped ahead of their north London rivals in the Power Rankings, and that’s all that matters.

A 3-0 win over a dreadful Burnley earned them muted praise, but they were praised to the high heavens for their 2-0 victory over Manchester City, and rightly so. Although beating City at least once a season is an annual tradition for Spurs at this stage, Thomas Frank appears to have already made an impact on their style of play and attitude.

Defensively Spurs looked miles better against City than they ever did under Ange Postecoglou, which is a marvel given Frank is working with the same backline the Australian did. And they pushed a frightening PSG side all the way to penalties in the UEFA Super Cup.

Read – Spurs attempt ambitious Chelsea transfer hijacking

5. Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich followed up their DFB-Supercup win over Stuttgart with a six-goal thrashing over RB Leipzig to get their Bundesliga title defence off to a perfect.

Vincent Kompany rolled out a strong starting XI against Wehen Wiesbaden in the DFB-Pokal on Wednesday, but it was not the walkover he would have been hoping for. After going two goals up, the third tier side fought back to make it 2-2. It took a 94th-minute goal from Harry Kane to progress to the second round.

Not ideal, but three wins from three nonetheless.

4. Villarreal

The team at the top of the LaLiga table is not Barcelona or Real Madrid, but Villarreal. Granted, only two games have been played and they are level on points with four other teams. But they have been very impressive.

The Yellow Submarine have scored seven goals without reply for the best goal difference in the Primera Division and they also boast the best expected goal difference (+3.5 xGD) in Europe’s top five leagues.

Villarreal aren’t likely to maintain this level of form over the course of the season, and their place in the Power Rankings won’t last much longer either. But it’s nice to dream about a relatively small club potentially upsetting the apple cart.

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3. Real Madrid

There usually would not be much to glean from two good Real Madrid performances against clubs like Osasuna and Real Oviedo. But we learned a fair bit from a small sample.

First of all, Xabi Alonso has already made his stamp on the squad. They absolutely dominated possession in a way that is typical of his philosophy. Secondly, he has convinced Kylian Mbappe to play as a centre-forward, something Carlo Ancelotti was reticent to do, while splitting the minutes on the left between Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo. Franco Mastantuono and Brahim Diaz have one start each on the right.

This is evidently how Alonso wants to setup his frontline for the foreseeable future; it will be fascinating to see how it develops over the campaign and how it fares against the biggest clubs.

Real have gradually built one of the strongest squads in Europe, and they don’t even have Jude Bellingham back from surgery yet. I’m betting they will scarcely be out of the top three this season.

2. Barcelona

While Real beefed up their backline in the summer transfer window, Barcelona added to their attack, signing wide forwards Marcus Rashford and Roony Bardghji. Given how their defence collapsed late in the Champions League, one wonders if they would have been better served aping the strategy their eternal rivals.

Regardless, Barça retain incredible offensive capabilities. Hansi Flick has some of the best attacking talent a manager could ask for, and they have already scored six goals in two games. It’s reasonable to question whether they have the right balance to challenge on all fronts, but they are undoubtedly still one of the most exciting teams in football.

1. PSG

Paris Saint-Germain may have lost the Club World Cup final to Chelsea, but you would be hard pushed to make an argument that they do not remain the best team in the world.

They have added the UEFA Super Cup to their Champions League crown, although they would have expected to handle it more easily than they did in the end. They could only manage narrow victories in their opening two Ligue fixtures, but one imagines they will hit their stride before long.

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