EPL: The Biggest Winners and Losers After the Weekend's Premier League Action

As the dust settles on the weekend's Premier League games, we're left to judge who has come out deserving a basket of chocolate eggs and who have been given a kicking by the Easter bunny.

There was a cure for insomniacs on Good Friday, as Tottenham and Sunderland sent everyone watching to sleep.

This was cured yesterday however.

We had controversy at Stamford Bridge, as the usually understated Roberto Martinez was left reeling at the linesman's "disgusting performance," as Chelsea stole all three points from Wigan.

Fulham and West Brom turned on the style, as they dispatched Bolton and Blackburn with ease, leaving the rivals deep in the mire of the relegation zone.

Liverpool ended a run of three defeats with a scrappy point at home to Villa; Norwich and Everton also shared the points.

Wolves are looking down and out after they were defeated by Tony Pulis' Stoke side.

At the top of the table, both Manchester teams were in action today, and the title race could be over. United kept up the pace with a win over QPR, and City slumped to a loss against Arsenal.

So here are the biggest winners and losers after the weekend's fixtures.

Don't agree with my picks? Comment below.

Biggest Winner: Manchester United

Slowly but surely Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson are making their way toward a 13th Premier League title.

In the manner that we have come to expect of them in the final stretch of the season, United coasted past a QPR side who may have every right to feel hard done-by after a controversial penalty.

Rooney made it 30 goals for the season by netting the spot kick and from then on United had little trouble.

With only 10 men, QPR had trouble attempting any form of attack, but while the game remained at 1-0 there was still a chance that they could upset the party.

It was then left to Paul Scholes, having a fantastic day dictating the pace of the game, to make the points safe with a fierce low drive to make it 2-0.

United have had an excellent second half of the season, and Scholes has played a huge part in it.

With six matches left in the season, United stand eight points above rivals Manchester City, and on this form, it doesn't look like they'll lose it.

2nd Biggest Winner: Arsenal

With Tottenham only managing a draw on Friday against Sunderland, Arsenal had a golden opportunity to take full advantage with a victory over Manchester City.

They left it late, but they took it.

When Theo Walcott drove a side-footed shot against the post with just 10 minutes remaining and neither Thomas Vermaelen nor Yossi Benayoun could finish it off, Arsenal fans would have been forgiven for thinking it just wasn't their day.

But Mikel Arteta's late strike put the team five points ahead of fifth place Chelsea, and after a terrible start to the season, it looks as though Arsenal will be playing Champions League football next season.

The Spaniard took the ball from David Pizarro, took the ball forward and finished neatly to the left-hand side of Joe Hart to leave the Arsenal fans mocking City by doing the Poznan.

Honourable Mention: Stoke

The elation was plain to see on the face of Tony Pulis after yesterday's victory over Wolves.

The win takes the Potters to 41 points and a guarantee of Premier League football. While survival was never in too much doubt for Stoke, this is a great milestone for the club to reach.

The game didn't start too well for Stoke however, as Wolves took the lead courtesy of a blunder by Asmir Begovic.

A Michael Kightly ball intended for David Edwards missed everyone in the penalty box, bouncing and looping over Begovic's head.

Johnathan Walters then put in his bid for miss of the season, as he inexplicably headed wide just inches from an open net.

Robert Huth brought the game level with a fierce shot from the edge of the area before Peter Crouch sealed the points with a fantastic header in the second half.

Tony Pulis have done a wonderful job at the club and will now be hoping that they can push on and finish in the top half of the table.

Biggest Loser: Wolves

While not yet officially down, Championship football seems inescapable now for Terry Connor's men.

Wolves played better than they had in recent weeks against Stoke, but it wasn't enough to avoid a 2-1 defeat and a sixth Premier League loss in a row.

They now lie stranded at the foot of the table, six points from safety. With six games remaining it will take something special for the Black Country side to stay up now.

From the shambles of replacing Mick McCarthy to on-the-pitch squabbles involving club captain Roger Johnson, it has been a season to forget for Wolves fans.

The board now need to concentrate on finding the best manager they can to get them back up to the Premier League.

After doing so well to avoid the drop since they came up in 2009, it will be a shame to see them go down, but only a miracle can save them now.

2nd Biggest Loser: Mario Balotelli

In the rain at the Emirates Stadium, Manchester City may have lost, but there was one clear loser on the pitch.

Mario Balotelli continued his recent run of controversy with a run of horrendous tackles in the first half, capped off with a red card in the dying minutes.

The worst of these was a studs-up challenge on Alex Song for which he should have definitely been sent off.

With his studs pointed straight at the knee of Song, Balotelli went straight through the ball onto Song's leg.

The tackle looked malicious and could have left Song with a serious injury.

Luckily for Mario, referee Martin Atkinson missed the incident, failing to even give a free kick.

He followed this with two bad high challenges on Bacary Sagna. One of these earned him a long overdue card, but it was yellow instead of the red he deserved earlier.

As the half ended Balotelli lay on his own with a mystery injury, as his teammates walked off. None of them seemed too worried about him.

In the second half he vented his frustrations on his own players, shouting at James Milner for failing to tell him about a closing defender.

Then as the game drew to a close, Balotelli ended a terrible game in fitting fashion by getting sent off for another unnecessary tackle on Sagna.

Balotelli's toxic influence has clearly had a huge negative affect in the team recently which has seen them throw away their lead.

It must be clear now to Roberto Mancini that he has to move the Italian on in the summer, if he's still the manager that is.