EPL Table Week 27: Breaking Down Fixtures That Shook the Standings

Another week is in the books in the Premier League, and there were a good number of results that had an impact on the table following Week 27.

There were multiple high-scoring affairs this past week. Arsenal, Hull City and Liverpool all netted four goals apiece. There were also a bevy of low-scoring clubs. Everton, Stoke City, Cardiff City, Crystal Palace Aston Villa and Tottenham were all held without a goal, showing that there is still a ton of disparity between teams in the Premier League.

Of all the results, the following three had the largest implications on the table.

Chelsea Defeat Everton, 1-0

Everton's hopes of finishing in the top four of the table are dwindling. Losing to Chelsea didn't help their efforts.

Chelsea, the leaders of the Premier League, were the favorites to win from the start. That being said, Everton are certainly good enough to run with the league's best. It took a stoppage-time winner from John Terry to grab the win for Chelsea, but Everton had prior opportunities to score.

Jamie McDonald/Getty Images

To Everton's credit, they weren't exactly at full strength from the start of play. BBC Sport notes that they lost an important contributor during warm-ups:

"

Everton's hopes of ending Jose Mourinho's remarkable home league record, which now stands at 74 games unbeaten as Blues manager, were dealt a blow in the warm-up.

Lacina Traore had to be replaced in the starting line-up because of a hamstring injury, but the change seemed to unnerve the hosts more.

"

Everton need to start stringing wins together to keep pace with the other top teams. With 45 points, it's becoming less likely with each passing week that they'll be able to make a jump into the top four.

Norwich City Surprise Tottenham

Rank	Team	GP	W	D	L	GD	PTS
1	Chelsea	27	18	6	3	28	60
2	Arsenal	27	18	5	4	25	59
3	Man City	26	18	3	5	42	57
4	Liverpool	27	17	5	5	35	56
5	Tottenham	27	15	5	7	3	50
6	Man United	27	13	6	8	12	45
7	Everton	26	12	9	5	10	45
8	Newcastle	27	12	4	11	-5	40
9	Southampton	27	10	9	8	6	39
10	West Ham	27	8	7	12	-3	31
11	Hull City	27	8	6	13	-2	30
12	Swansea City	27	7	7	13	-4	28
13	Aston Villa	27	7	7	13	-10	28
14	Norwich City	27	7	7	13	-19	28
15	Stoke City	27	6	9	12	-15	27
16	Crystal Palace	26	8	2	16	-18	26
17	West Brom	27	4	13	10	-8	25
18	Sunderland	26	6	6	14	-16	24
19	Cardiff City	27	5	7	15	-29	22
20	Fulham	27	6	3	18	-32	21

Norwich City's victory over Tottenham had major implications for two reasons. For one, it meant that Norwich were able to move away from the relegation zone. Secondly, it hurt Tottenham's top-four hopes.

The match was knotted at one after the first half, but Norwich sent home the go-ahead goal just a few minutes into the second half. Robert Snodgrass' fifth goal of the season was exactly what Norwich needed to fend off a team with hopes of overtaking Liverpool in the near future.

Tottenham now sit six points behind Liverpool for the No. 4 spot on the table. They will face off against Cardiff City in a seemingly winnable match in Week 28, but after losing to Norwich, all bets are off.

Lefteris Pitarakis/Associated Press

Like Everton, Tottenham need to start stringing wins together—not to mention defeating lesser teams. Everton's case is more extreme given their lower standing, but Tottenham still need to pick up the pace.

West Ham Defeat Southampton

West Ham have been hot of late, so it really isn't much of a surprise that they took down Southampton on Sunday, 3-1. They have now won four straight league matches.

Maya Yoshida scored an early goal for Southampton in the eighth minute, but that was the last of the scoring for their side. West Ham scored the final three goals of the match en route to their win.

West Ham boss Sam Allardyce had this to say about his players' efforts (via BBC Sport):

"

In the Premier League it is all about the resilient qualities in defence and you have to score a goal, which today contributed massively in us winning this game.

The three goals we scored were excellent and that got us back after going 1-0 down so early on. Credit to all the players.

"

Neither side really has a chance at making a serious run at the end of the season, but West Ham are in a great position to play spoiler from here on out.

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