Premier League Table 2013 Week 18: Updated Look After Sunday's Action

The Premier League saves its best for last in Week 17. Arsenal will host Chelsea on Monday, Dec. 23 to bring a close to the week and determine which team will enter Week 18 with the EPL lead. 

With Liverpool taking out Cardiff City, 3-1, at home on Saturday, the Reds have seized the league's top spot with 36 points. With only the Blues and Gunners left to play this week, that gives them a one-point lead over Manchester City and Arsenal. 

Take a look at the table and the week's results and then I'll offer up a look at Sunday's action: 

POS	CLUB	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
1	Liverpool	17	11	3	3	42	19	23	36
2	Manchester City	17	11	2	4	51	20	31	35
3	Arsenal	16	11	2	3	33	17	16	35
4	Everton	17	9	7	1	29	16	13	34
5	Chelsea	16	10	3	3	32	18	14	33
6	Newcastle United	17	9	3	5	24	22	2	30
7	Tottenham Hotspur	17	9	3	5	18	23	-5	30
8	Manchester United	17	8	4	5	28	20	8	28
9	Southampton	17	6	6	5	22	18	4	24
10	Stoke City	17	5	6	6	17	21	-4	21
11	Swansea City	17	5	5	7	23	23	0	20
12	Hull City	17	5	5	7	14	20	-6	20
13	Aston Villa	17	5	4	8	17	23	-6	19
14	Norwich City	17	5	4	8	15	29	-14	19
15	Cardiff City	17	4	5	8	13	25	-12	17
16	West Bromwich Albion	17	3	7	7	18	23	-5	16
17	West Ham United	17	3	5	9	14	22	-8	14
18	Crystal Palace	17	4	1	12	11	27	-16	13
19	Fulham	17	4	1	12	17	34	-17	13
20	Sunderland	17	2	4	11	12	30	-18	10

Date	Home Club	Score	Road Club
Dec. 21	Liverpool	3-1	Cardiff
Dec. 21	Crystal Palace	0-3	Newcastle
Dec. 21	Fulham	2-4	Manchester City
Dec. 21	Manchester United	3-1	West Ham
Dec. 21	Stoke	2-1	Aston Villa
Dec. 21	Sunderland	0-0	Norwich
Dec. 21	West Brom	1-1	Hull
Dec. 22	Southampton	2-3	Tottenham
Dec. 22	Swansea City	1-2	Everton

Southampton 2-3 Tottenham

In his Premier League debut, Tim Sherwood made a strong impression on Sunday as Tottenham manager after the sudden sacking of Andre Villas-Boas. 

The last time the Hotspur took the pitch in league action, they were humiliated 5-0 at home by Liverpool. That would be the last time AVB took the pitch for the Hotspur. 

Tottenham didn't let the whirlwind of events slow them down. 

Emmanuel Adebayor was a big reason why. The 29-year-old picked up a brace en route to his team's 3-2 victory. After Southampton's Adam Lallana netted the match's first goal, Adebayor leveled it with a score in the 25th minute. 

After a five-minute stretch in the second saw the two teams trade goals, the match was locked at two in the 59th minute. 

Just six minutes later, Adebayor victimized Southampton's injury-riddled back line with a close-range score to give Tottenham a lead that stood until the final whistle. 

After having fallen out of favor with Villas-Boas, Adebayor could be in for a goal-scoring binge. Now the interim manager is left hoping that some certainty is soon added to the Tottenham manager's spot: 

Sherwood made a strong case for his candidacy on Sunday.

Swansea City 1-2 Everton

Everton have surged into fourth in the EPL table. After their 2-1 away win over Swansea City on Saturday, Everton still haven't dropped a match since Oct. 5. 

In this one, they also scored all the goals. 

An own goal from Bryan Oviedo in the 70th minute marked the only time Swansea was able to get on the scoreboard in this match. Tim Howard turned in yet another excellent day in goal, and wound up with three saves: 

After Seamus Coleman netted the match's first goal in the 66th minute, that tied the score at one. 

In the 84th minute, Ross Barkley took a free-kick, and he drilled it. The shot nicked the crossbar and slid to the back of the net for the game winner. 

For Barkley, it was a continuation of his recent excellent stretch of play. 

With the disappointing home loss, Swansea is stuck in 11th.