Premier League Winners and Losers: Peter Crouch, Mikel Arteta and More

What a weekend it was in the Premier League.

It's sad to say, but the season is drawing to a close. Nonetheless, the table is far from being cemented, with no team sure of what position they will finish in. The top-four race is heating up with Arsenal tightening their grip on third place, while Spurs and Chelsea's 0-0 draw now means the two look likely to battle it out for fourth place.

Although this week saw a lot of solidifying in the table, it was more about goals than anything. Mikel Arteta hit a bullet of a free kick for Arsenal against Aston Villa, looking like the goal of the weekend until Peter Crouch scored an absolute stunner against Manchester City.

Let's get right to the action.

Winner: Wigan Athletic

Going into this weekend, I was looking at several predictions on various websites for the Premier League matches of game week 30. Just about all of them said Liverpool would brush aside Wigan with a 2-0 win.

Well, that's why football is the most unpredictable game on the planet. Wigan made one of the biggest upsets of the season with their 2-1 win over Liverpool at Anfield, giving them a glimmer of hope in the quest to stay alive for another season in the Premier League.

Roberto Martinez's men now sit in 19th, just one point away from safety in 17th place. Can they survive against all odds for yet another season?

Winner: Bolton

It was certainly a huge weekend for the relegation battle.

Bolton defeated Blackburn 2-0 at the Reebok Stadium, keeping themselves one point above the drop zone and definitely giving them hope that they can stay up amid this surprisingly horrible season. Ryo Miyaichi, the on-loan 19-year-old from Arsenal, has been quite inspirational so far in his stint at Bolton and could very well be their saviour.

Think Bolton can survive the drop? It'll be tight, but they do seem to be playing better than a few of their competitors.

Winner: Arsenal

It's been another fantastic weekend for Arsenal as their remarkable resurgence continued with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Aston Villa.

Not only was it a good weekend at the Emirates as the Gunners grabbed their seventh straight league win, but results elsewhere in the Premier League were kind to Arsene Wenger's side. Spurs' 0-0 draw with Chelsea means that Arsenal now sit three points clear in third place and eight points clear in the top four. 

Arsenal's next few matches look like fairly easy three points (although you never know in the Premier League), with matches away to QPR, away to Wolves and home to Wigan. Although a home tie against Manchester City does sit in the middle of those fixtures, the Gunners could certainly defeat the league leaders in the sort of form they're currently in.

Winner: Wonder Goals

The goals speak for themselves. I don't think I need to say anything except for this and this.

Winner: Papiss Cisse

Papiss Cisse has taken no time to make his mark on the Premier League, and he showed that with his brace for Newcastle in their 3-1 win over West Brom.

Level on points with Chelsea in sixth place, Newcastle's dream of finishing in the top four is still hanging on—but only by a thread. At this point, everyone has just about written off Alan Pardew's side to finish in the top four despite their emphatic start to the season, and a Europa League spot now looks much more likely.

Newcastle fans will surely be satisfied with a top-six finish, which looks very probable now as the Magpies find themselves eight points above Liverpool and fancy themselves to win against the out-of-form Reds in the clash next week at the Sports Direct Arena.

Loser: Chelsea

The ideal result for Chelsea in their match against Spurs at Stamford Bridge over the weekend would have been a win to put them within two points of the top four, but instead they held off Tottenham to a 0-0 draw.

This means the Blues gained no ground on the top four, and it won't get any easier for Roberto Di Matteo's side, with matches away to giant-killing Fulham, in-form Arsenal and Liverpool all looming. 

Nothing is impossible, but hopes of getting a Champions League spot are slowly fading for Chelsea. 

Loser: Wolves

Terry Connor's Wolves just can't get a break at the moment.

Connor's side have gained just one point since he took over after Mick McCarthy's sacking, and the winless streak continued with a 2-1 loss to Norwich at Carrow Road.

Were Wolves really expected to win? No—but with just 22 points on the board and three points clear at rock bottom of the table, the Wolverhampton outfit must start picking up points wherever they can.

A match against fellow relegation candidates Bolton at the Molineux awaits Wolves next weekend, and their fate in the relegation battle could very well rest on the result of that match. 

Loser: Kenny Dalglish and Liverpool

Where do I even start?

Honestly, I dont't know. Liverpool have so many problems at the moment, and their recent results certainly reflect them. Leading 2-0 at Loftus Road with 13 minutes left to play last week, the Reds somehow let 18th placed QPR come back 3-2. My reaction? Laughter.

But surely Liverpool wouldn't lose to then-last-placed Wigan at Anfield. Surely Liverpool would bounce back from a crushing defeat midweek and pick up all three points against possibly the worst team in the Premier League. 

Nope.

If I were a Liverpool fan, I'm not sure whether I would rather have a Carling Cup trophy or possibly finish midtable behind Sunderland and Everton, teams that spent less than a quarter of what the Reds spent this summer.

It's reality—Liverpool are only two points above those clubs, and just three points behind Swansea, a team that spend peanuts compared to Liverpool's mega-million-pound transfers.

Loser: Manchester City

A draw at the Britannia against Stoke is probably a decent result for most Premier League clubs—but not for a side dead-locked with their rivals fighting for the title.

Manchester City are now three points adrift of first-place Manchester United, and although the Citizens certainly have more quality in their squad, United's experience seems to be winning at the moment.

City face two tough matches next, playing at home to Sunderland—the epitome of mid-table resilience—and away to Arsenal, the team that just can't stop winning at the moment.

In my opinion, though, the winner of the Manchester derby on April 30th will ultimately win the title—and that clash just happens to be at the Etihad Stadium.

Things will get interesting...