Reds rule, Spanish armada invades

The all-too-quick international break is over, as is your fearless ranker's. I'm back from Down Under, where I got a quick glimpse into Australian football. No, not this kind. Or this kind. Though now that you mention it, it was highly amusing to run into this (we think) Aussie rules legend in Melbourne.

To get an idea of what that's like, picture a beefy cross between Dennis Rodman and Brian Bosworth -- wading alongside you in a hotel pool, bragging about an adult film he made with his wife. That was my encounter with the infamous Warwick Capper.

But we digress. We're indebted again to The Limey boys for filling in during our last outing. And guys, there are no "algorithms" or "coefficients" involved here. It's just me and my Commodore 64, alone in the basement.

In any case, we're in a weird spot here -- because of the international break, all of our clubs have had at maximum two matches since our favorite besotted Englishmen took over this space. So it's going to be short but sweet this time out. Enjoy. I'm going back to my Leisure Suit Larry game, currently in progress. I hope Warwick Capper isn't a guest star.

Note: All rankings, records and statistics are through Oct. 15.

World Soccer Power Rankings

1 Previously: 1	Liverpool Huge, huge win at Manchester City. The Reds kept pace in the English Premier League, Dirk Kuyt finally got on the score sheet, Robbie Keane looks like he's finally integrating himself into the system and Fernando Torres continued his assault on the world's best player debate. But what a bummer if injured El Niño misses his triumphant return to Atlético Madrid in the Champions League next week.
2 Previously: 2	Chelsea Speaking of great storylines, Didier Drogba's feud with the African confederation marches on as the Ivorian said this week he does not want to be considered for the African Football Player of the Year award. He's still seething from last year, when the award went to Fredi Kanouté after Drogba declined to travel to the ceremony. Meanwhile, banged up Chelsea bagged a solid 2-0 win over Aston Villa without the injured striker and a host of other key players.
3 Previously: 4	Villarreal How about that Yellow Submarine? Villarreal is tied for first in La Liga with Valencia and has yet to drop a match this season, including in the Champions League. The bad news is for fans of Jozy Altidore, who can't get in a game. The young American is behind Villarreal's other strikers -- Giuseppi Rossi, Joseba Llorente and Guille Franco -- on the depth chart, and will fall further when Nihat returns from injury in a few weeks.
4 Previously: 5	Manchester United Fantastic Cristiano Ronaldo-to-Wayne Rooney strike in United's 2-0 win over Blackburn. Rooney has been on a tear of late for both club and country, with a goal in each of Man U's past two outings and four goals in England's last two World Cup qualifiers. Is Fabio Capello's guidance making him into an even more dangerous player?
5 Previously: 6	FC Barcelona How's that for silencing the critics for awhile? Barça put on its most impressive performance of the season, pummeling Atlético at the Camp Nou. The Blaugrana scored five goals in the first 28 minutes -- including a pair from Samuel Eto'o. They still trail the Killer Vs in La Liga, though, and have a potentially dicey slate of away games coming up: at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday and then in the Champions League on Oct. 22 at FC Basel.
6 Previously: 3	Real Madrid A draw with plucky Espanyol not only ended Real's nine-match home winning streak, it also leaves Los Blancos three points off the pace in La Liga and staring up at four clubs higher in the table. At least Fernando Gago looks like he'll be healthy soon, but Madrid has some real problems in the midfield, with Guti, Mahamadou Diarra and Arjen Robben still hurt.
7 Previously: 8	Inter Milan The Nerazzurri stanched some bleeding with a much-needed 2-1 win over Bologna, but they hardly looked menacing despite a front line of Ricardo Quaresma, Adriano, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Mancini. Still, José Mourinho gets a boost this week with the return from injury of holding midfielder Patrick Vieira, who will give Inter a steady veteran presence on the pitch.
8 Previously: --	Valencia Los Che appear here for the first time in 18 months, thanks to an undefeated start to the season and getting drawn into what looks like the most manageable group in the UEFA Cup. The jury's still out on this bunch, as it'll be a long recovery from a disastrous '07-08, but at least new manager Unai Emery has injected Valencia with some enthusiasm and David Villa is still lighting up the scoreboard.
9 Previously: 7	Lazio Surprising Lazio is still on top of the Serie A -- just barely -- after Simone Inzaghi rescued the Biancocelesti with a last-minute equalizer against newly promoted Lecce. It'll be tough, in our eyes, for the Romans to stay in this space this season, as they don't have any European play to bolster their bona fides. But their style of play has indeed been pretty so far, and this club could use some good news.
10 Previously: --	Palmeiras Will someone please establish some consistency in Latin America? Impressive Grêmio may be back atop the Brazilian-league standings, but it's Palmeiras, with just one loss in its past eight matches, that gets the charity stripe here. The São Paulo club is still fighting for the top of the table while juggling Copa Sudamericana play -- Big Green has a quarterfinal date with imminently beatable Argentinos Juniors. And hats off to journeyman striker Alex Mineiro who, at age 33, is having his most prolific season and is tied for second in the league scoring charts.
Honorable mentions: Hamburger SV, Arsenal, Olympiakos, Boca Juniors, San Lorenzo, Olympique Lyonnais, Aston Villa, Grêmio, Al-Ahly Cairo, Hull City, TSG Hoffenheim, CFR Cluj Dropped off: Atlético Madrid, Boca Juniors