Premier League Table 2014 Week 31: Latest Standings, Predictions for Matchday 31

With table leaders Chelsea succumbing to Aston Villa in Week 30, the title race heading into Week 31 is even more jumbled.    

Manchester City now have the edge in that race. The Citizens have played three fewer matches on the league season, but they trail Chelsea by just six points after downing Hull this previous matchday. 

Meanwhile, with both Liverpool and Arsenal picking up wins, they now trail Chelsea by just four points and have played one less game. 

We are set for a wild finish to the season. Have a look at the table following Matchday 30 and then we'll get into the upcoming action. 

Rank	Club	GP	W	D	L	GD	PTS
1	Chelsea	30	20	6	4	33	66
2	Liverpool	29	19	5	5	41	62
3	Arsenal	29	19	5	5	25	62
4	Manchester City	27	19	3	5	44	60
5	Tottenham	30	16	5	9	-1	53
6	Everton	28	14	9	5	12	51
7	Manchester United	29	14	6	9	12	48
8	Southampton	30	12	9	9	6	45
9	Newcastle	29	13	4	12	-3	43
10	Aston Villa	29	9	7	13	-6	34
11	Stoke	30	8	10	12	-12	34
12	West Ham	29	8	7	14	-6	31
13	Hull	29	8	6	15	-7	30
14	Swansea	29	7	8	14	-5	29
15	Norwich	30	7	8	15	-24	29
16	West Brom	29	5	13	11	-10	28
17	Crystal Palace	29	8	4	17	-19	28
18	Sunderland	27	6	7	14	-16	25
19	Cardiff	30	6	7	17	-29	25
20	Fulham	30	7	3	20	-35	24

Date	Home Team	Predicton	Away Team
March 22	Chelsea	1-1	Arsenal
March 22	Manchester City	4-0	Fulham
March 22	Norwich City	1-2	Sunderland
March 22	Newcastle	2-1	Crystal Palace
March 22	Everton	2-1	Swansea City
March 22	Hull City	1-1	West Brom
March 22	Cardiff City	0-3	Liverpool
March 22	West Ham	2-2	Manchester United
March 23	Tottenham	1-0	Southampton
March 23	Aston Villa	1-0	Stoke City

Predictions

Chelsea vs. Arsenal 

All eyes will be on this match next week. With two of the top four battling head to head, there is obviously lots of room for table jumbling. Gunners head man Arsene Wenger knows the match must take center stage. Arsenal Info helps highlight that with this quote: 

Chelsea will be looking to atone for their failure against Aston Villa, but they will be doing so at less than full strength. The tweet by 101GreatGoals helps explain: 

The Brazilian duo of Willian and Ramires were sent off in their match against Aston Villa. It created for an odd and questionable end to the contest, which BBC presenter Gary Lineker helps highlight: 

While it is fair to debate whether Arsenal should have these players available, there is no debating the fact that the Blues won't be as dangerous without them. 

This is going to weaken Chelsea's three-man attacking midfield system and leave the Blues struggling to find consistency. Still, Chelsea will be strong in defense, and Arsenal have been performing better in defense than on the attack.

All of this will set up for a match that is eerily reminiscent of last time these two met in league play and battled to a 0-0 tie.  

Prediction: Chelsea 0-0 Arsenal 

Tottenham vs. Southampton

Paul Gilham/Getty Images

Fifth-place Tottenham continue to sit just outside the top four of the EPL table, and there is little reason to believe that they can close the gap to join the upper four. 

Struggling to score, Tottenham are in serious danger of plummeting down the table.

Meanwhile, eighth-place Southampton continue to exceed expectations, but they've struggled to pick up points against other top-half sides. 

Both of these teams play sound defense and aren't typically looking to light up the scoreboard. In the first meeting of the two, however, Tottenham prevailed 3-2. 

I expect Tottenham to emerge victorious by the same margin this time around, but with far less scoring. 

Both of these teams are far more comfortable playing a 1-0 match than a 3-2 affair. 

Tottenham will find a way to score in the first half and then focus on the back to keep Southampton out of the net.

Prediction: Tottenham 1-0 Southampton