How Each Premier League Team Has Fared at Halfway Mark of 2014 Compared to 2013

Nineteen games have been played in the Premier League so far this season, meaning half of the campaign has already passed. There have been some tremendous stories, like Southampton and West Ham punching above their weight and the Merseyside clubs' struggles.

However, when looking at last year's table after 19 games compared to this season, there are a few glaring differences.

#	Team	Games Played	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goal Difference	Points
1	Arsenal	19	13	3	3	19	42
2	Man City	19	13	2	4	33	41
3	Chelsea	19	12	4	3	16	40
4	Everton	19	10	7	2	13	37
5	Liverpool	19	11	3	5	21	36
6	Man United	19	10	4	5	10	34
7	Tottenham	19	10	4	5	-2	34
8	Newcastle	19	10	3	6	5	33
9	Southampton	19	7	6	6	6	27
10	Hull City	19	6	8	8	-1	23
11	Swansea City	19	5	8	8	-1	21
12	Stoke City	19	5	8	8	-11	21
13	Aston Villa	19	5	9	9	-7	20
14	Norwich City	19	5	10	10	-16	19
15	West Brom	19	3	7	7	-5	18
16	Cardiff City	19	4	9	9	-15	18
17	Crystal Palace	19	5	13	13	-16	16
18	Fulham	19	5	13	13	-22	16
19	West Ham	19	3	10	10	-10	15
20	Sunderland	19	3	11	11	-17	14

Arsenal's fantastic start guided them to the top of the table during the holidays. The signing of Mesut Ozil clearly gave the Gunners a boost in confidence that carried into December.

Manchester City and Chelsea were only separated by two points, while Everton, who were in fourth place at the time, were only five points behind Arsenal.

Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham and even Newcastle were all involved in the race for a Champions League spot halfway through the 2013/14 season. 

On the opposite end of the table, Sunderland were in the basement with 14 points but remained only a win away from climbing out of the relegation zone.

West Ham, Fulham, Crystal Palace, Cardiff, West Brom and Norwich occupied 14th to 19th but were only separated by three points. 

Fast-forward to December 2014; the current table has significantly changed.

#	Team	Games Played	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goal Difference	Points
1	Chelsea	19	14	4	1	27	46
2	Man City	19	13	4	2	24	43
3	Man United	19	10	6	3	14	36
4	Southampton	19	10	3	6	17	33
5	Arsenal	19	9	6	4	11	33
6	West Ham	19	9	4	6	7	31
7	Tottenham	19	9	4	6	0	31
8	Liverpool	19	8	4	7	1	28
9	Swansea City	19	8	4	7	1	28
10	Newcastle	19	7	5	7	-6	26
11	Stoke City	19	7	4	8	-2	25
12	Everton	19	5	6	8	-2	21
13	Aston Villa	19	5	6	8	-11	21
14	Sunderland	19	3	11	5	-11	20
15	QPR	19	5	3	11	-13	18
16	West Brom	19	4	5	10	-10	17
17	Hull City	19	3	7	9	-8	16
18	Crystal Palace	19	3	7	9	-10	16
19	Burnley	19	3	7	9	-15	16
20	Leicester City	19	3	4	12	-14	13

West Ham are the most improved side—the Hammers have 16 more points this year compared to 2013.

Their attack has made the difference. They scored just 18 goals after 19 games last season and now have 30 in that same span, catapulting the club to sixth in the table.

The two Manchester clubs have only improved by two points, yet City are second and United are third. The Red Devils were sixth at this stage last season. 

Man United have an injury-plagued squad, and a lot of their early season troubles were blamed on that and the defending, as The Canadian Press pointed out in November (h/t TSN).

Meanwhile, Chelsea's six extra points make them the league leaders during the holidays.

Team	Points in 2013	Points in 2014	Change
West Ham	15	31	16
Swansea	21	28	7
Chelsea	40	46	6
Southampton	27	33	6
Sunderland	14	20	6
Stoke City	21	25	4
Man City	41	43	2
Man United	34	36	2
Aston Villa	20	21	1
Crystal Palace	16	16	0
West Brom	18	17	-1
Tottenham	34	31	-3
Newcastle	33	26	-7
Hull City	23	16	-7
Liverpool	36	28	-8
Arsenal	42	33	-9
Everton	37	21	-16

Swansea and Southampton are two of the other standouts this season. The former have seven more points compared to last year, while the latter have an extra six.

Sunderland should probably have more than six more points as well. However, their league-high 11 draws has hurt them in that department.

Newcastle are one of the bigger disappointments as they've decreased by seven points. However, a large number of injuries have taken their toll on the squad.

Now that manager Alan Pardew is in talks with Crystal Palace over the vacancy, per ESPN FC, it will be interesting to see how the Magpies perform in the second half of the season.

Arsenal have also sustained injuries to several key players, but they're still in fifth place and are level on points with Southampton, who occupy the final Champions League spot.

Liverpool are also near the bottom of the list. The absence of Daniel Sturridge through injury and the sale of Luis Suarez has clearly hurt the Reds. Last year, the Merseyside club had 44 goals in 19 matches; they have just 26 heading into 2015.

Everton are in practically the same situation as every other club that has underachieved. Injuries and Europa League fixtures have been detrimental, but being 16 points worse off this year is a worrying sign for manager Roberto Martinez.

What do you make of your club's progress from last year to this year? Let us know in the comments below.