It's been a pretty breathless month of August in the world of football as the club game made an early start to the 2022-23 season in anticipation for the World Cup in Qatar in November and December. And the mass of activity has seen a few different names make their claim in the upper reaches of The Sportsman's Football Power Rankings.
While Real Madrid remain at the top of the tree thanks to their 100 per cent start to the Spanish La Liga campaign, the likes of Arsenal and Roma have strung together a series of wins to lift them well up the standings.
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 August 31:
40. Manchester United (previously 15th) - 14.391
39. Athletic Bilbao (60th) - 14.500
33. Red Bull Salzburg (14th), LASK (-), Royal Antwerp (-), PSV (82nd), Panathinaikos (-), Zorya Luhansk (-) - 15.000
32. Atalanta (32nd) - 15.500
31. Lazio (33rd) - 17.219
30. Benfica (58th) - 17.813
29. Rennes (31st) - 17.938
28. RB Leipzig (12th) - 18.594
27. Lyon (36th) - 19.742
26. Freiburg (48th) - 19.750
25. Young Boys (44th) - 21.563
24. Lens (50th) - 22.500
23. Villarreal (22nd) - 23.250
22. Union Berlin (46th) - 24.500
21. Real Betis (42nd) - 25.063
20. Celtic (29th) - 25.313
19. Tottenham Hotspur (28th) - 25.422
18. Chelsea (6th) - 25.484
17. Napoli (23rd) - 27.109
16. Borussia Dortmund (11th) - 27.414
15. Juventus (13th) - 27.563
14. Atletico Madrid (7th) - 27.680
13. Milan (9th) - 28.625
11. Red Star Belgrade (41st), Zenit St Petersburg (17th) - 29.063
10. Marseille (16th) - 29.375
Constistent finishes in the top five of Ligue 1 have been the order of the day for Les Phoceens in recent years, meaning that even their semi-final loss to Feyenoord in the Uefa Europa Conference League last term couldn't stop them riding high in the Power Rankings. They have started the 2022-23 season well under new coach Igor Tudor too, with just two points dropped and a great defensive record so far.
9. Barcelona (10th) - 32.969
They might struggle to register players these days but Barcelona remain a huge threat in La Liga at the very least. Their 0-0 draw with Rayo Vallecano on the opening day might not have made for the best of starts but a wonderful 4-1 win at Real Sociedad and last weekend's 4-0 trouncing of Valladolid assures them of a top-10 position.
8. Arsenal (34th) - 33.531
It's amazing what five games can do. Mikel Arteta's Arsenal have enjoyed a wonderful start to the Premier League campaign, boosting their rankings total by 25 points for the time being at least. They may have had a supposedly soft fixture list thus far but they have made a statement with the results nonetheless, and their rise to eighth is something worth celebrating.
7. Liverpool (4th) - 37.547
Liverpool were on the verge of being top of the Power Rankings at the end of last season, but their Champions League final loss put paid to those hopes. Now they have slipped down to seventh on the back of an indifferent start to 2022-23. A few more 9-0 wins should help them make up the loss ground though.
6. Inter (8th) - 38.125
Last weekend's loss to Lazio dealt Simone Inzaghi's troops an early blow, but Inter have still climbed two places thanks to their three wins from four heading into the Milan derby on Saturday. Their number one target is to regain the Scudetto from neighbours AC Milan, but Champions League progress would also help to boost their ranking.
5. Roma (18th) - 38.305
The two Milan sides are among a host of names chasing Jose Mourinho's Roma right now. Only Juventus have managed to take points off the Lupi so far in 2022-23, and some smart additions plus a rigid back-line have helped the side from La Citta Eterna to leap up the Power Rankings.
4. Manchester City (2nd) - 48.766
But for Arsenal's flying start, City would still be right on the tail of our number-one side. Instead they have dropped a couple of spots due to their 3-3 draw at Newcastle United, the one result which has blemished their otherwise faultless beginning to the season. If Erling Haaland stays on course for 68 Premier League goals in 2022-23, they won't be far off the top come trophy time.
3. Paris Saint-Germain (5th) - 51.492
Another season, another PSG title? With 21 goals already in five Ligue 1 fixtures, the Parisiens are not messing about. With Neymar leading both the goals (seven) and assists (six) charts in France, and Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi both contributing heavily, PSG ought to be a permanent fixture in our top five,
2. Bayern Munich (3rd) - 55.117
Bayern's coronation for an 11th season in succession feels like something of an inevitability already, even despite last Saturday's 1-1 draw with Borussia Monchengladbach. Even the loss of Robert Lewandowski in the summer looks unlikely to stop them in the Bundesliga, although it will be in Europe where they might find ranking points harder to come by.
1. Real Madrid (1st) - 63.289 (2022-23: 25pts, 2021-22: 27.5pts, 2020-21: 6.38pts, 2019-20: 3.36pts, 2018-19: 1.05pts)
Still on top of La Liga, still number one in our rankings. Real Madrid have won three from three in the league so far, with Karim Benzema and Vinicius Jr again contributing plenty. The European champions have a lot to live up to after last season's heroics though, with plenty of big names primed to knock them off their pedestal if they can't go back-to-back in the Champions League.
