Manchester City on top in global power rankings with Liverpool dropping to third

The global power rankings of football clubs sees Manchester City ranked first in the world ahead of European giants Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid.

The rankings are created by statistics website FiveThirtyEight where 640 teams are compared by the Soccer Power Index. The ratings are based on two factors: a club’s ratings at the end of the previous season and its market value as calculated by Transfermrkt.

Manchester City currently have a rating of 92.3, while Bayern second on 91.8 and Liverpool third with a rating of 90.5. Just two Premier League sides make up the top five after Chelsea slipped two places into sixth.

Ligue 1 Champions Paris Saint-Germain are right behind Liverpool in the pecking order while Real Madrid have also progressed into the top five following their La Liga and Champions League victories last term. After that come Ajax and Barcelona, while Inter Milan and Tottenham then make up the top 10. 

Arsenal have slipped behind Sporting Lisbon into 17th, but Manchester United have moved up 10 places into 22nd. Once the season kicks off in August, each team’s ranking will be adjusted following every match based on their performance.

The SPI have also forecast 40 leagues across the world and the predictions will continue to be updated as the season progresses. As things stand, Manchester City are currently forecast to win the Premier League, followed by Liverpool in second and Chelsea in third.