Premier League Table 2014 Week 23: Updated Standings Following Matchday 22

Although Matchday 22 only features a couple of marquee contests, every match is key for the top clubs to remain in contention for a league title.

Arsenal took care of business on Saturday to remain in first in the league table, although Manchester City remain one point behind thanks to their own victory. 

That led up to arguably the best matchup of the weekend as Chelsea hosted Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Jan. 19. A Samuel Eto'o hat trick allowed the Blues to cruise to a 3-1 home win.

These matches, and many others, have had a big effect on the standings as the league starts to get more intense every week. Here is an updated look at the table and fixtures for Week 22.

Place	Team	GP	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Arsenal	22	16	3	3	24	51
2	Man City	22	16	2	4	38	50
3	Chelsea	22	15	4	3	23	49
4	Liverpool	22	13	4	5	25	43
5	Tottenham	22	13	4	5	3	43
6	Everton	22	11	9	2	15	42
7	Man United	22	11	4	7	9	37
8	Newcastle	22	11	3	8	4	36
9	Southampton	22	8	7	7	4	31
10	Aston villa	22	6	6	10	-7	24
11	Hull City	22	6	5	11	-6	23
12	Norwich City	22	6	5	11	-17	23
13	West Brom	22	4	10	8	-5	22
14	Stoke City	22	5	7	10	-14	22
15	Swansea City	22	5	6	11	-6	21
16	Crystal Palace	22	6	2	14	-17	20
17	Fulham	22	6	1	15	-26	19
18	West Ham	22	4	6	12	-11	18
19	Sunderland	22	4	6	12	-15	18
20	Cardiff City	22	4	6	12	-21	18

Date	Home	Score/Time (GMT)	Away
Jan. 18	Sunderland	2-2	Southampton
Jan. 18	Arsenal	2-0	Fulham
Jan. 18	Crystal Palace	1-0	Stoke City
Jan. 18	Manchester City	4-2	Cardiff City
Jan. 18	Norwich City	1-0	Hull City
Jan. 18	West Ham United	1-3	Newcastle United
Jan. 18	Liverpool	2-2	Aston Villa
Jan. 19	Swansea City	1-3	Tottenham
Jan. 19	Chelsea	3-1	Manchester United
Jan. 20	West Bromwich Albion	8 p.m.	Everton

The weekend started with an impressive comeback as Sunderland forced a draw after being down 2-0 in the first half. Adam Johnson scored an equaliser in the 71st minute and now has four goals and two assists in his last two matches for Sunderland.

This continues a poor stretch for Southampton, who started the season with a bang but have faded lately. They now only have two wins in the last 11 EPL matches.

Arsenal have not had these struggles as they remain on top of the league table after another impressive win. While things started slow, Santi Cazorla turned things around with two goals in a six-minute stretch:

Meanwhile, Fulham could barely muster any offense while getting shutout for the seventh time this season.

Manchester City also used a late rally to break away after some trouble early. A Jesus Navas goal put the club up 2-1 at the 33-minute mark, and Cardiff had a few opportunities to even the match.

However, the aggressive City offense kept after it and were able to break it open with goals from Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero. The Premier League Twitter account showcased how good the club has been at Etihad Stadium this year:

One of the bigger surprises of the day came from Crystal Palace, who edged their way out of the league basement thanks to a 1-0 win over Stoke City. The battle for relegation will be close, so every win becomes huge at this point of the year.

Aston Villa also pulled off a bit of a shocker with a 2-2 draw against Liverpool that could hurt going forward. 

On Jan. 19, Chelsea cruised to a win at Stamford Bridge over a desperate United side that sputtered to a 3-1 loss. Eto'o's three goals in the first 49 minutes of the match were the difference for the Blues, who look poised to remain in the thick of the title hunt. 

Everton and West Brom will round out the weekend's action with a Monday affair. 

At this stage of the season, any mistake could end up being devastating to hopes of winning a trophy. 

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