Premier League Table 2014 Week 22: Updated Standings Following Matchday 21

The elite clubs in the English Premier League kept pace with each other on top of the table in Week 21, taking advantage of favorable matchups throughout the weekend.

Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea remain in a tight battle for the top spot in the league, while Liverpool, Everton and Tottenham are not far behind. However, none of the top seven clubs entering the week faced each other, providing all of them an opportunity to gain three points.

Here is a recap of Matchday 21 with a look at the latest standings in the EPL.

Pos.	Team	G	W	D	L	GD	PTS
1	Arsenal	21	15	3	3	22	48
2	Man City	21	15	2	4	36	47
3	Chelsea	21	14	4	3	21	46
4	Liverpool	21	13	3	5	25	42
5	Everton	21	11	8	2	15	41
6	Tottenham	21	12	4	5	1	40
7	Manchester United	21	11	4	6	11	37
8	Newcastle	21	10	3	8	2	33
9	Southampton	21	8	6	7	4	30
10	Hull City	21	6	5	10	-5	23
11	Aston Villa	21	6	5	10	-7	23
12	Stoke City	21	5	7	9	-13	22
13	Swansea City	21	5	6	10	-4	21
14	West Bromwich Albion	21	4	9	8	-5	21
15	Norwich City	21	5	5	11	-18	20
16	Fulham	21	6	1	14	-24	19
17	West Ham United	21	4	6	11	-9	18
18	Cardiff City	21	4	6	11	-19	18
19	Sunderland	21	4	5	12	-15	17
20	Crystal Palace	21	5	2	14	-18	17

Date	Home	Score/Time (GMT)	Away
Jan. 11	Hull City	0-2	Chelsea
Jan. 11	Cardiff City	0-2	West Ham United
Jan. 11	Everton	2-0	Norwich City
Jan. 11	Fulham	1-4	Sunderland
Jan. 11	Southampton	1-0	West Bromwich Albion
Jan. 11	Tottenham	2-0	Crystal Palace
Jan. 11	Manchester United	2-0	Swansea City
Jan. 12	Newcastle United	0-2	Manchester City
Jan. 12	Stoke City	3-5	Liverpool
Jan. 13	Aston Villa	1-2	Arsenal

Chelsea earned the three points they needed with a 2-0 road victory over Hull City. After a scoreless first half, Eden Hazard got the Blues on the scoresheet before Fernando Torres helped the squad pull away late.

However, the story of the day was Petr Cech in net, who earned yet another clean sheet for his club to set a new record, according to BBC Sport:

This 2-0 score seemed to be a common theme on Saturday as it was the same positive result for Tottenham, Everton, Manchester United and West Ham United.

Everton likely had the most dominant effort of the day as Norwich City had little chance to keep up. The home side held possession for 63 percent of the match and took 25 shots to secure the victory.

Meanwhile, Tottenham got a much-needed goal from Jermain Defoe, who is on his way to Toronto FC of the MLS in February. 

One of the few surprises that took place on the first day of action was Sunderland's 4-1 victory over Fulham. Ian Darke of BT Sport discusses Sunderland's ability to surprise people:

The play continued on Sunday as Manchester City blanked Newcastle 2-0 at St. James' Park. Edin Dzeko put the Citizens ahead in the eighth minute and Alvaro Negredo would put the match away late in injury time, handing the Magpies just their third league home loss of the season. 

Additionally, Liverpool overcame Stoke City on the road. Luis Suarez scored a brace for the Reds as they won 5-3 in an offensive struggle.

Matchday 21 concluded on Monday with Arsenal topping Aston Villa 2-1. The Gunners scored twice in a one-minute span in the first half to all but bury the Lions. Christian Benteke would narrow the gap in the 76th minute but Villa weren't able to equalize on their home pitch as Arsenal reclaimed the top spot in the league table. 

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