With just a handful of games left to play, there has never been a better time to feature in the Playmaker Power Rankings.
So this special midweek ranking is good news for the likes of Leyton Orient, Bristol Rovers, and Port Vale as well as for big clubs like Spurs and Liverpool...
Last 5: WWWLW
The O’s were in 20th position in League Two before the arrival of new manager Richie Wellens but with four wins in their last five, they’ve moved up into a far more comfortable 14th position in the table.
Last weekend, two goals in six minutes from Harry Smith and Otis Khan gave Orient the win away to Walsall. Khan arrived at Leyton Orient from Walsall in January and will have particularly enjoyed getting a goal and assist against his former club.
Last 5: WWWLW
It’s nine wins in Bristol Rovers’ last 12 games in League Two, which is why they’re currently fifth in the league but level on points with third-placed Port Vale. Joey Barton’s team have had an impressive 2022 that has seen them build up winning streaks at a crucial time of the season. Their defensive record has been the backbone of that, since the start of the year, Rovers have conceded just 11 league goals – the fewest out of any team in the division.
The Gas took advantage of some poor Bradford City defending to grab a 75th-minute winner in their last game – the perfect tonic for a disappointing defeat to Carlisle United last week.
Last 5: WWWLW
With seven wins in their last eight games, Plymouth Argyle are rapidly catching up to Rotherham United and Wigan Athletic – two teams who looked like they’d have the automatic promotion places sewn up weeks ago. While the those two teams do have games in hand over Steven Schumacher’s team, there could still be a late twist should Plymouth and MK Dons keep up their fine form.
Plymouth have been particularly strong at home but face two away trips (against Burton Albion and Wycombe Wanderers) in their next two games.
🏠Most league wins at HOME fr. 2019/20 (top 4 tier teams; inc. P/Os):
— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) April 4, 2022
40✅: Liverpool
39✅: Man City
37✅: 💚PLYMOUTH*💚
34✅: Sunderland
33✅: Brentford, Cheltenham, Exeter
*won their last six L1 games at home w/out conceding a goal#pafc @only1argyle pic.twitter.com/RQrHruhzix
Last 5: WWLWW
Liverpool are the only team to defeat Forest since the start of February, with Steve Cooper’s team having gone nine games unbeaten in the Championship.
Since that FA Cup defeat, Forest have put in two fine performances. First picking up a 4-1 away to Blackpool last Saturday (with young Brennan Johnson providing two goals and an assist for his team) before defeating Coventry City at the City Ground last night with Johnson scoring yet again.
The Garibaldi are fifth in the Championship with two games in hand over the teams in third and fourth – with this kind of form a play-off place is looking assured come the end of the season.
💫 Involved in 20+ league goals this season (21 or under; #UEFA 'Top 5' leagues + #EFL):
— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) April 4, 2022
🏴 JOHNSON (13G, 7A)
🇳🇴 Haaland (16G, 5A)
🇧🇷 Vinicius Jr (14G, 6A)#NFFC @NFFC pic.twitter.com/JtCQShSvoh
Last 5: WLWWW
Spurs came from behind to dismantle Newcastle United in style and move into fourth place and remained there after Arsenal lost to Crystal Palace on Monday. After the game, Antonio Conte said "if we give everything, then we'll see what we can reach," which should set up an exciting between the clubs with Champions League aspirations.
Tottenham have won five of their last six league games and only have seven left to play and have scored the most goals out of any Premier League team since the start of the new year. With that kind of momentum, they could well secure fourth spot.
📈 Most #PremierLeague goals scored in 2022:
— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) April 5, 2022
30⚽: 💥SPURS*💥
27⚽: Liverpool
20⚽: Wolves
19⚽: Man City, Man Utd
18⚽: Villa
* Kane x8; Son x6; OGs x4; Bergwijn x3; Kulusevski + Doherty x2; Sanchez, Reguilon, Romero, Davies + Emerson Royal.#COYS @LastWordOnSpurs pic.twitter.com/R7bkzCeNhp
Last 5: WWWLW
The Grecians still have some tough games left to play before the season is over but their win over Newport County last weekend was a big step to securing promotion to League One.
Matthew Taylor’s team have lost just one game in League Two since the New Year’s Day defeat to Sutton United (that was against Mansfield Town in early March) and have picked up 11 wins since then. In fact, only MK Dons and Bristol Rovers have won more points than them in 2022 out of all the teams in the EFL, it would take a spectacular collapse to not see Exeter moving up to third tier.
Last 5: WWDWW
Arsenal did not enjoy their trip to Selhurst Park, with Patrick Vieira’s team deservedly running out 3-0 winners. After a fairly inconsistent start to the season, the Eagles are now picking up victories on a regular basis.
Indeed, since the start of 2022, Crystal Palace have lost just three times in the league (against West Ham, Chelsea, and Liverpool), and only Liverpool, Manchester City, and Chelsea have conceded fewer league goals since then.
Victory over Arsenal is a positive start to a tough run of fixtures coming up, which includes an FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea on the 17th of April is sandwiched between games against Leicester City and Newcastle United.
⚠Most fouled in the #PL (21/22):
— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) April 6, 2022
76: ZAHA🦅
66: Toney
60: AYEW🦅
57: McGinn
50: Richarlison
48: Antonio
47: GALLAGHER🦅, Lamptey
46: Maddison
44: Grealish, Aarons#cpfc pic.twitter.com/N6RumUIkVv
Last 5: WDWWW
After winning late against Barrow over the weekend, Port Vale continued their good run with a narrow win over a resurgent Salford City thanks to Harry Charsley’s 59th-minute goal. That victory was the sixth win in seven games for Andy Crosby’s team.
The Valiants are very much the best of the rest in League Two, occupying that vital third automatic promotion spot. Port Vale have just six games left to play including games against fellow promotion chasers – with things so tight at the top, it’s far from over.
Last 5: WDWWW
MK Dons’ fantastic just run keeps on going. Victory over Crewe Alexandra on Tuesday evening made it 14 games unbeaten for the Milton Keynes club. No team has won as many points as MK Dons have since the start of the season.
The League One table looks very good for MK Dons right now, they’re in second place, just a point behind the league-leaders Wigan Athletic. However, both Wigan and third-place Rotherham United (who are a point behind the Dons) have played two games fewer.
All Liam Manning’s team need to do now is get positive results out of their final five games and hope the other two slip up.
📈 Most league points won in 2022 (top 4 tiers):
— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) April 6, 2022
4⃣4⃣: 👉MK DONS*👈
4⃣0⃣: Bristol R
3⃣8⃣: Wigan, Exeter
3⃣6⃣: Luton
3⃣5⃣: Fulham, Sheff W, Salford
* 13 wins, 5 draws and one loss in L1 in 2022. #MKDons @MKDonsFC pic.twitter.com/tZXQhuJAma
Last 5: WWWWW
The Reds started their hectic and important period with exactly the kind of result they were looking for against Benfica in Lisbon. Luis Díaz’s 87th-minute goal that made it 3-1 on the night means that the second leg at Anfield next week should be easier to navigate with Jürgen Klopp having the option to rest players for the crucial league games if he wants to.
Liverpool made it ten Premier League wins in a row with a nervy victory over Watford last weekend. All eyes are now on next weekend and if they can make it eleven in a row against Manchester City, the title could be returning to Anfield this year.
𝙁𝙄𝙑𝙀 consecutive wins on the road in the #UCL this season 🛣 pic.twitter.com/ksxzOSMkxE
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) April 6, 2022
