It's a hybrid month for the Power Rankings, with the Premier League and Ligue 1 among those top divisions back in action while others kick back and stick up their feet for a few more weeks after the World Cup.
That has allowed Manchester United to climb back into the top 20 for the first time since the summer of 2022, although Chelsea have felt the opposite effect in falling three places.
Based on achievements over the past five seasons, with a sliding scale rewarding more recent successes most heavily, we’ve come up with an algorithm which identifies the very best teams across domestic leagues and European competition. Here are the top 40 teams in the rankings including all results up to and including December 31:
39. Panathinaikos (previously 39th), Dnipro (39th), Club Brugge (39th), Newcastle United (39th), Feyenoord (39th) - 15.000
38. Real Betis (38th) - 15.063
37. Genk (36th) - 15.938
36. Union Berlin (34th) - 16.500
35. Atalanta (33rd) - 17.500
34. Lille (35th) - 18.313
33. Villarreal (37th) - 19.250
32. Roma (32nd) - 19.305
31. Benfica (31st) - 19.688
30. Lazio (29th) - 21.219
29. Monaco (31st) - 21.500
28. Young Boys (28th) - 21.563
27. Stade Rennais (21st) - 21.938
26. Tottenham Hotspur (24th) - 22.297
25. Lens (25th) - 22.500
24. Real Sociedad (26th) - 22.625
23. Freiburg (25th) - 22.750
22. Eintracht Frankfurt (22nd) - 24.734
21. Celtic (20th) - 25.313
20. Manchester United (23rd) - 26.391
19. Borussia Dortmund (18th) - 27.289
18. Chelsea (15th) - 27.359
16. Red Star Belgrade (16th), Zenit St Petersburg (16th) - 29.063
15. Marseille (19th) - 29.375
14. Red Bull Salzburg (13th) - 30.000
13. Juventus (12th) - 30.563
12. Atletico Madrid (14th) - 31.680
11. Inter (11th) - 32.000
10. RB Leipzig (10th) - 33.469
Leipzig return to action post-World Cup with a home game against Bayern Munich on January 20. Back in at the deep end!
9. Arsenal (9th) - 33.531
When will Arsenal fall away? That's what we were asking in September, but now they're seven points clear at the top of the Premier League. Is their title push the real deal?
8. Liverpool (8th) - 37.422
A win at Aston Villa on their return to action was followed by a Wout Faes-assisted 2-1 victory over Leicester City. The Reds have some work to do to defend the points they won in their excellent 2021-22 season.
7. AC Milan (7th) - 38.500
Milan are back in action on Wednesday with a trip to Salernitana in Serie A.
6. Napoli (6th) - 38.984
The Serie A leaders have an eight-point advantage to defend in 2023, beginning their efforts away to Inter on Wednesday.
5. Barcelona (5th) - 42.969
A 1-1 draw in the Catalan derby against Espanyol was not the ideal restart for Barca, who now have only a goal-difference advantage over Real Madrid.
4. Manchester City (4th) - 50.641
Everton?! Manchester City dropped points to Everton?! Pep Guardiola's side have some doubters to win over in 2023, with a seven-point gap to Arsenal to make up if they are to defend their Premier League title.
3. Paris Saint-Germain (3rd) - 53.367
PSG were back in business with a 2-1 win over Strasbourg thanks to Kylian Mbappe's late penalty. The defeat to Lens on New Year's Day reduced their Ligue 1 lead after the cut-off for the rankings.
2. Bayern Munich (2nd) - 56.992
Bayern return to action away to RB Leipzig on January 20 in the Bundesliga.
1. Real Madrid (1st) - 58.164
Two late goals for Karim Benzema against 10-man Real Valladolid took Madrid back level with Barcelona at the top of La Liga. If they can return to the top, their lead in the Power Rankings will get a seven-point boost.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject to Change
