Premier League Table 2013 Week 12: Predicting How the Standings Will Change

After the international break comes the resumption of the Premier League, and with the league as close as it has been in many years, each round brings surprises in terms of teams rising and falling in the standings.

Crisis club Manchester United now lie fifth after their defeat of high-flying Arsenal, while big-spending Manchester City have dropped to eighth. Southampton and Everton, meanwhile, are the only clubs in the league to have lost just once this campaign.

Let's, then, take a look at Week 12 fixtures.

Fixture	Day	Time	TV Info	Prediction
Everton vs. Liverpool	Saturday	12:45	BT Sport	2-2
Fulham vs. Swansea	Saturday	15:00		1-3
Hull vs. Crystal Palace	Saturday	15:00		2-0
Arsenal vs. Southampton	Saturday	15:00		1-0
Newcastle vs. Norwich	Saturday	15:00		2-0
Stoke vs. Sunderland	Saturday	15:00		1-2
West Ham vs. Chelsea	Saturday	17:30	Sky Sports	0-3
Man City vs. Tottenham	Sunday	13:30	Sky Sports	2-2
Cardiff vs. Man Utd	Sunday	16:00	Sky Sports	1-3
West Brom vs. Aston Villa	Monday	20:00	Sky Sports	2-1

The schedule has thrown up a potentially cracking week of fixtures, including derbies on Merseyside, in the Midlands and in London. Add in a top-of-the-table clash between Manchester City and Tottenham and the stage is set for a fantastic week of action.

But how will the weekend's results affect the league table? Let's take a look at how our predictions would see the table pan out.

Current League Table

Position	Team	P	W	D	L	PTS
1	Arsenal	11	8	1	2	25
2	Liverpool	11	7	2	2	23
3	Southampton	11	6	4	1	22
4	Chelsea	11	6	3	2	21
5	Manchester United	11	6	2	3	20
6	Everton	11	5	5	1	20
7	Tottenham Hotspur	11	6	2	3	20
8	Manchester City	11	6	1	4	19
9	Newcastle United	11	5	2	4	17
10	West Bromwich Albion	11	3	5	3	14
11	Aston Villa	11	4	2	5	14
12	Hull City	11	4	2	5	14
13	Swansea City	11	3	3	5	12
14	Cardiff City	11	3	3	5	12
15	Norwich City	11	3	2	6	11
16	West Ham United	11	2	4	5	10
17	Stoke City	11	2	4	5	10
18	Fulham	11	3	1	7	10
19	Sunderland	11	2	1	8	7
20	Crystal Palace	11	1	1	9	4

What Changes Will Occur?

Per the predictions made, Arsenal will remain top of the Premier League with a narrow victory over Southampton. Liverpool's draw in the Merseyside derby will allow them to retain at least a share of second position, while Manchester United and Chelsea will both rise above Southampton.

In sixth, seventh and eighth position, draws will see Everton, Tottenham and Manchester City remain in their current positions, while Newcastle could join Manchester City on 20 points with victory over Norwich.

Wins for Hull and Swansea, over Crystal Palace and Fulham respectively, will see them move toward the top of the mid-table mini-league. There, they would be joined by the winner of West Brom against Aston Villa which, on form, will see the Baggies emerge victorious.

As a consequence, Cardiff and Aston Villa would be demoted to the lower mid-table positions with the South Wales outfit facing a difficult challenge at home.

Our predictions, though, see little joy for those in the lower reaches of the league. Norwich face a difficult away trip to Newcastle, West Ham face Chelsea while Fulham host Swansea.

Stoke playing Sunderland, then, would appear to be the most difficult to predict, but with Gus Poyet beginning to make strides with the Black Cats' much-changed squad, it would seem it is they who are in better form coming into the encounter.

A win would see Sunderland move level with Fulham and back in touch with the mid-table sides, while stranding Crystal Palace at the bottom of the league.

Palace may well be able to get a point out of the game with Hull, but it is difficult to see them earning a win on current form.

A win for Sunderland, then, would add greatly to the sense that the South Londoners are heading straight back to the Championship next season without making much of a splash in the Premier League.