Premier League Table 2014 Week 34: Latest Standings, Predictions for Matchday 34
Nobody is safe at the top of the Premier League, but three elite clubs are distancing themselves from the pack entering Week 34.
Liverpool enter the weekend with 74 points, two points clear of second-place Chelsea. However, it's Manchester City with the advantage, as they have two games in hand and sit four points back of the league lead.
With a number of other squads still competing for Champions League and Europa League qualification, the final few weeks of the season are guaranteed to be chock-full of enticing matchups and star-studded affairs.
Let's break it all down and take a look at who has the upper hand in the Matchday 34 fixtures.
| Manchester City | 4-1 | Southampton |
| Aston Villa | 1-2 | Fulham |
| Cardiff City | 0-3 | Crystal Palace |
| Hull City | 1-0 | Swansea City |
| Newcastle United | 0-4 | Manchester United |
| Norwich City | 0-1 | West Bromwich Albion |
| Chelsea | 3-0 | Stoke City |
| West Ham United | 1-2 | Liverpool |
| Everton | 3-0 | Arsenal |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 5-1 | Sunderland |
| 1 | Liverpool | 33 | 23 | 5 | 5 | 50 | 74 |
| 2 | Chelsea | 33 | 22 | 6 | 5 | 41 | 72 |
| 3 | Manchester City | 31 | 22 | 4 | 5 | 55 | 70 |
| 4 | Arsenal | 33 | 19 | 7 | 7 | 16 | 64 |
| 5 | Everton | 32 | 18 | 9 | 5 | 21 | 63 |
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur | 33 | 18 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 59 |
| 7 | Manchester United | 33 | 17 | 6 | 10 | 18 | 57 |
| 8 | Southampton | 33 | 13 | 9 | 11 | 6 | 48 |
| 9 | Newcastle United | 33 | 14 | 4 | 15 | -13 | 46 |
| 10 | Stoke City | 33 | 10 | 10 | 13 | -11 | 40 |
| 11 | West Ham United | 33 | 10 | 7 | 16 | -7 | 37 |
| 12 | Hull City | 33 | 10 | 6 | 17 | -6 | 36 |
| 13 | Aston Villa | 32 | 9 | 7 | 16 | -13 | 34 |
| 14 | Crystal Palace | 32 | 10 | 4 | 18 | -16 | 34 |
| 15 | Swansea City | 33 | 8 | 9 | 16 | -4 | 33 |
| 16 | West Bromwich Albion | 32 | 6 | 14 | 12 | -11 | 32 |
| 17 | Norwich City | 33 | 8 | 8 | 17 | -26 | 32 |
| 18 | Fulham | 33 | 8 | 3 | 22 | -41 | 27 |
| 19 | Cardiff City | 33 | 6 | 8 | 19 | -35 | 26 |
| 20 | Sunderland | 30 | 6 | 7 | 17 | -20 | 25 |
| April 12 | Sunderland | 0-2 | Everton |
| April 12 | Stoke City | 1-1 | Newcastle |
| April 12 | Fulham | 1-0 | Norwich City |
| April 12 | Crystal Palace | 1-2 | Aston Villa |
| April 12 | West Brom | 1-2 | Tottenham |
| April 12 | Southampton | 3-0 | Cardiff City |
| April 13 | Liverpool | 3-2 | Manchester City |
| April 13 | Swansea City | 1-3 | Chelsea |
| April 15 | Arsenal | 2-0 | West Ham |
Predictions
Liverpool vs. Manchester City
Week 34 doesn't offer many high-flying matchups, but this one makes up for all of it.
A Reds win at home on Sunday, however, would put Brendan Rodgers and company in quite a favorable position.
On the other hand, Manchester City have a big few weeks coming up as they are set to make up their two games and take the Premier League lead. But that will be awfully tough to do without leaving Anfield with at least one point on Sunday afternoon.
Can City's defenders keep up with Liverpool? The Reds' two star goalscorers, Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge, have combined for 49 goals this season. But City's defense has only given up 29 goals all year, and they beat Liverpool 2-1 the first time these two clubs squared off this season.
If Sturridge and Suarez are kept under wraps, City's chances of heading home with a point or more are very high. But nobody has proven able to keep them under wraps at home, and not even potential title-winning City will change that.
Prediction: Liverpool 2, Manchester City 1
Swansea City vs. Chelsea
Jose Mourinho and the Blues enter Matchday 34 with a golden opportunity, but they need help.
Chelsea can take the Premier League lead entering Week 35 if they are able to beat Swansea after Liverpool lose to Manchester City. The Blues can tie the Reds at the top of the table with a win and a Liverpool draw.
But it will be a bitter ending for Chelsea if they are too consumed on that. Don't let Swansea's 15th-place spot in the table fool you: They enter the match as a formidable challenge.
Swansea's minus-four goal differential suggests that they are much closer to the middle of the table than the bottom of it. And with them much closer to the relegation line than they should be, the Swans will be looking for any result possible to keep from being knocked down a league.
Chelsea are the more talented club and have everything left to play for, but they won't be facing a hapless club by any means over the weekend.
Prediction: Chelsea 3, Swansea City 1
Sunderland vs. Everton
Few, if any, clubs in the EPL can match Everton's form at the moment.
Having won their last six matches in league play, the Toffees are on an absolute tear at the moment. Everton are now just one point shy of the EPL's fourth and final Champions League spot.
It's tough to see them slipping up despite having to go on the road in Week 34. Sunderland just traveled to Tottenham, hung around for a half before getting smacked in the second en route to a 5-1 loss—and their lone goal was due to a gaffe in the defending third from Spurs.
Everton showed that they are going to mean business over the final month of the season by crushing Arsenal 3-0 at home last weekend. And they won't be deterred despite inferior competition in Week 34.
Prediction: Everton 2, Sunderland 0
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