Barclays Premier League Table: Updated 2015 EPL Outlook After Week 21 Results

Chelsea were the big winners of Week 21 of the 2014-15 Premier League season, regaining sole possession of the top spot in the standings after Manchester City's 1-1 draw against Everton.

The Blues avenged their loss at St. James' Park with a 2-0 win over Newcastle United and now hold a two-point lead over the defending champions, with Manchester United sitting in third. The Red Devils will play Southampton on Sunday.

Here are the full results for Week 21 of the Premier League season:

Date	Home	Result	Away
Saturday, Jan. 10	Sunderland	0 - 1	Liverpool
Saturday, Jan. 10	Burnley	2 - 1	Queens Park Rangers
Saturday, Jan. 10	Chelsea	2 - 0	Newcastle United
Saturday, Jan. 10	Everton	1 - 1	Manchester City
Saturday, Jan. 10	Leicester City	1 - 0	Aston Villa
Saturday, Jan. 10	Swansea City	1 - 1	West Ham United
Saturday, Jan. 10	West Bromwich Albion	1 - 0	Hull City
Saturday, Jan. 10	Crystal Palace	2 - 1	Tottenham Hotspur
Sunday, Jan. 11	Arsenal	? - ?	Stoke City
Sunday, Jan. 11	Manchester United	? - ?	Southampton

The current Premier League standings:

Pos	Team	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Chelsea	21	15	4	2	46	19	27	49
2	Manchester City	21	14	5	2	45	20	25	47
3	Manchester United	20	10	7	3	34	20	14	37
4	Southampton	20	11	3	6	34	15	19	36
5	Tottenham Hotspur	21	10	4	7	30	29	1	34
6	Arsenal	20	9	6	5	34	25	9	33
7	West Ham United	21	9	6	6	32	25	7	33
8	Liverpool	21	9	5	7	29	27	2	32
9	Swansea City	21	8	6	7	26	25	1	30
10	Newcastle United	21	7	6	8	25	33	-8	27
11	Stoke City	20	7	5	8	22	24	-2	26
12	Everton	21	5	7	9	30	34	-4	22
13	Aston Villa	21	5	7	9	11	23	-12	22
14	West Bromwich Albion	21	5	6	10	20	29	-9	21
15	Crystal Palace	21	4	8	9	22	31	-9	20
16	Sunderland	21	3	11	7	18	31	-13	20
17	Burnley	21	4	8	9	19	33	-14	20
18	Hull City	21	4	7	10	20	27	-7	19
19	Queens Park Rangers	21	5	4	12	23	37	-14	19
20	Leicester City	21	4	5	12	20	33	-13	17

Chelsea

Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

Oscar gave the Blues the lead just before half-time, and Diego Costa doubled their tally to hand his club a routine 2-0 win over Newcastle on Saturday. Thanks to City's draw against Everton, Chelsea once again sit alone at the top of the standings.

Assistant manager Steve Holland told reporters Jose Mourinho wasn't entirely satisfied with his team's performance, although he was happy it responded well and picked up the pace in the second half:

The Blues have made few mistakes so far in the 2014-15 campaign and remain one of the best clubs when playing at home, as shared by this statistic from Infostrada Sports:

Their away form has been up and down in the last few weeks, and it remains cause for concern. Given Chelsea's dominance at home, their lead at the top of the standings simply should be bigger.

City were rocked by injuries in December and managed to keep the gap with the Blues to just two points, and should the roles reverse at some point in this season, the defending champions are in excellent position to take full advantage.

Chelsea are still favourites for the title, but they need to put together a run of wins away from Stamford Bridge to underline their credentials.

Manchester City

Jon Super/Associated Press

The Citizens were the better team in the first half but were almost overrun by Everton in the second, and the final score of 1-1 was an accurate reflection of how the match played out.

Manuel Pellegrini's squad got lucky, however, as referee Martin Atkinson could have given the Toffees a penalty, ruled out a goal after a nonexistent foul on Joe Hart and missed a clear handball from Pablo Zabaleta in the buildup to Fernandinho's opener.

Still, as shared by KICK TV, the final result is good news for the Blues:

Everton came into this match having lost four in a row, and on paper at least, this was a must-win fixture for the Citizens. But to their credit, the Toffees arguably played their best match of the season, and few teams would have been able to cope with the relentless pressure they applied in the second half.

Goodison Park can be a nightmare venue for opposing teams when the hosts are in form—City won't be the only club dropping points there.

One thing became very clear on Saturday, however: the AFCON couldn't have come at a worse time. Yaya Toure's physicality in midfield was sorely missed, giving the hosts too many opportunities to isolate Jesus Navas and David Silva in the second half.

Vincent Kompany also can't return to full health soon enough—Eliaquim Mangala is talented but not ready to be a full-time starter at the Premier League level. BBC Sport's Phil McNulty noticed how he was dominated by Romelu Lukaku on Saturday:

These next few weeks without Toure and a hobbled Kompany will be crucial for the defending champions. Sergio Aguero can't return to form soon enough.

Tottenham Hotspur

Jamie McDonald/Getty Images

Tottenham failed to take advantage of a unique opportunity on Saturday, losing 2-1 to Crystal Palace in shocking fashion.

Spurs could have leapt over Southampton and into the top four of the Premier League standings while keeping the pressure on rivals Arsenal. Instead, the Gunners would now jump Spurs with a win over Stoke City on Sunday, while Southampton can afford to drop a result against Manchester United.

Consistency has been Tottenham's biggest weakness in the 2014-15 campaign, and after the big 5-3 win over Chelsea, a setback against struggling Crystal Palace was almost to be expected. ESPN FC's John Brewin certainly wasn't surprised:

Spurs show promise, but as of right now, they simply can't be taken seriously as a contender for the Champions League spot. For all of their talent, the squad's inability to consistently grab results is something that won't be resolved in a matter of weeks.

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