Arsenal + Tottenham = 5 matches, 0 wins, 1 draw, 4 losses, 3 GF, 18 GA, -15 GD. I’m half-expecting the rioting to return to North London.
Speaking of chaos, we’re getting close to the chaos part of the year in the Weekly Rankings. There were a few changes this week due to moves in domestic schedules. Most notably, Zenit St. Petersburg enters the rankings after taking the top spot in the Russian Premier League from CSKA Moscow. Likewise, in the Ukraine, Dynamo Kyiv took over the summit from Shakhtar Donetsk in the early stages of the Ukranian Premier League, causing the two clubs to virtually switch place in the rankings. Finally, Lyon replaces Marseille in the rankings since Lyon has passed Marseille in the combined two-season table.
And that’s where the chaos discussion starts. We use a combined two-season table in order to tabulate the ranking numbers until a domestic league has five full matchdays under its belt. In two weeks, when the weekly rankings return, the German Bundesliga and French Ligue Un seasons will have reached five full matchdays and all of the 2010-11 data will be expunged from the formulas. (It will happen in all of the other leagues as well, gradually.) When this happens, unexpected clubs will drop from the rankings and enter the rankings and things will just generally jump all over the place. It’s one of my favorite times of the year on the rankings but it does cause confusion. Don’t worry, though. Things start to work out after the conclusion of the Champions League group stage in December.
That’s what we have coming up. For now, here are the pre-chaos rankings.
World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – August 29, 2011
1. Manchester United (Eng) (1) – I know a lot of people don’t like the idea of Manchester United being the top ranked club in the world, but I don’t think too many Gunner fans will argue this morning after Manyoo handed Arsenal its ass in a 8-2 thrashing on Sunday. Coming Up: After the international break, United will return to action against the Bolton Wanderers on Sept. 10.
2. Barcelona (Esp) (2) – Barça took home the UEFA Super Cup this past weekend with a 2-0 defeat of Porto. Coming Up: Barcelona will begin its Primera División title defense this afternoon at home against Villarreal. After the break, Barcelona will return against Real Sociedad.
3. AC Milan (Ita) (3) – No matches this week. Coming Up: If the Serie A returns to action after the break, Milan is scheduled to host Lazio a few Saturdays from now.
4. Real Madrid (Esp) (5) – Like Manyoo, Real Madrid won by a six-goal margin this weekend, defeating Real Zaragoza 6-0 on the road. Coming Up: On Sept. 10, Real Madrid will host local rivals Getafe.
5. Borussia Dortmund (Ger) (4) – Last season’s top two clubs in the Bundesliga, Dortmund and Leverkusen, fought to a scoreless draw this weekend. Coming Up: Dortmund is scheduled to host Hertha Berlin on Sept. 10.
6. Manchester City (Eng) (6) – The other club from Manchester also continued to roll this weekend against top competition, beating up on Tottenham Hotspur with a 5-1 rout. Coming Up: Mansee hosts Wigan Athletic on Sept. 10.
7. Porto (Por) (7) – Porto stuck around until the red cards started to pile up but still predictably fell to Barcelona 0-2 in the UEFA Super Cup on Friday. Coming Up: Porto returns to Liga Sagres action a little early, taking on União de Leiria on Sept. 6 before hosting Vitória Setúbal on Sept. 11.
8. Chelsea (Eng) (8) –No surprises at Stamford Bridge this weekend where Chelsea defeated Norwich City 3-1. Coming Up: Chelsea will head north to take on Sunderland in a few weekends.
9. Inter Milan (Ita) (9) – No matches this week. Coming Up: Inter’s next “scheduled” opponent is Palermo on Sept. 10.
10. Lille (Fra) (10) – As in Germany, last season’s top two clubs faced off in France and Lille eventually walked away with a 3-2 victory over Marseille. Coming Up: After the international break, Lille will face off against Saint-Étienne.
11. Dynamo Kyiv (Ukr) (20) – This is one of those early-season blips I was talking about. After defeating Lovech 1-0 to advance to the Europa League group stage, Dynamo Kyiv moved top in the Ukranian Premier League by virtue of a 4-0 away victory against Dnipro. Coming Up: Dynamo will take on Illychivets at home on the Sunday following the international break.
13. Bayern Munich (Ger) (13) – Bayern started the week by beating Zürich 1-0 to advance to the UEFA Champions League group stage and then completed it by moving to the top of the German Bundesliga with a 3-0 victory over Kaiserslautern. Coming Up: On Sept. 10, Bayern Munich will take on Freiburg at Allianz Arena.
14. Valencia (Esp) (14) – In one of the most dramatic matches of the weekend, Valencia began its Primera División campaign with a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over Racing Santander. Coming Up: Valencia will have to play a little better if they want a similar result against Atlético Madrid on Sept. 10.
15. Benfica (Por) (15) – Benfica’s most recent match was its 3-1 victory over Twente that put it into the UEFA Champions League group stage. Coming Up: Benfica will take on Nacional later on today. On Sept. 11, Benfica will host Vitória Guimarães in its next Liga Sagres match.
16. Arsenal (Eng) (17) – Things started off well enough for the Gunners with a 2-1 victory over Udinese to advance to the group stage of the Champions League. Of course, this morning, I’d 8 2 be an Arsenal fan after the 8-2 massacre that Manchester United laid upon them on Sunday. Coming Up: Arsenal still will be looking for its first Premier League victory when it hosts Swansea City after the international break.
17. Bayer Leverkusen (Ger) (16) – Leverkusen had to settle for 0-0 draw against defending Bundesliga champion Borussia Dortmund. Coming Up: After the break Leverkusen will take on recently-promoted Augsberg.
18. Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukr) (11) – Following a surprising 2-2 draw with Chornomorets, Shakhtar dropped to second place after eight weeks in the Ukranian Premier League season. Coming Up: Shakhtar will look to bounce back against Volyn on Sept. 10.
19. Napoli (Ita) (18) – No matches this week. Coming Up: We’ll wait and see if it happens but Napoli is scheduled to take on Cesena on Sept. 10.
21. Lyon (Fra) (BU) – Lyon returns to the rankings after advancing in the Champions League despite settling for a 1-1 draw with Rubin Kazan and ending Montpellier’s perfect Ligue Un start by defeating the southern French club 2-1. Coming Up: On Sept. 10, Lyon is scheduled to return to Ligue Un play against Dijon.
22. Zenit St. Petersburg (Rus) (NF) – With a 5-0 victory over Krasnodar, Zenit moved to the top of the Russian Premier League and back into the WCR rankings. Coming Up: Next up for Zenit is a trip to Moscow to take on Lokomotiv.
23. Corinthians (Bra) (19) – Corinthians stay on top of the Brazilian Serie A table despite falling 1-2 to Palmeiras over the weekend. Coming Up: Lots can happen in the aforementioned table between now and the next rankings since Corinthians will play four matches between now and then against Gremio (8/31), Coritiba (9/4), Flamengo (9/8) and Fluminense (9/11).
24. Udinese (Ita) (24) – Udinese’s match of the week was its 1-2 loss to Arsenal which saw Udinese relegated to the Europa League. Coming Up: If there is Serie A action in a few weeks, Udinese will take on Lecce.
25. Liverpool (Eng) (NF) – Liverpool scored a 3-1 victory over Exeter City in a second round Carling Cup match at midweek and then followed that with a 3-1 Premier League victory over Bolton Wanderers. Coming Up: Liverpool will try to maintain its impressive league start on Sept. 10 against Stoke City.
Bubbling Under: CSKA Moscow (Rus), Marseille (Fra), Rangers (Sco), Trabzonspor (Tur), Villarreal (Esp).
Next Five: Deportivo Quito (Ecu), Flamengo (Bra), København (Den), Lazio (Ita), Panathinaikos (Gre).
Matches Between Top 25 Clubs in Next Two Weeks:
None
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