Barclays Premier League Table: Updated 2015 EPL Outlook After Week 22 Results
Chelsea extended their lead at the top of the Premier League table to five points and continued their march towards the title on Saturday as they thrashed Swansea 5-0 at the Liberty Stadium.
Manchester City need to beat Arsenal on Sunday in order to reduce the gap back to two points or else risk allowing Chelsea to open up a comfortable cushion at the table's summit.
City are the only side realistically set to challenge Jose Mourinho's Blues for the title, but their neighbours Manchester United continued their bid for a top four finish with a 2-0 win over QPR.
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Here are the results from Week 22 and an updated Premier League table:
| Date | Fixture | Result |
| Jan. 17 | Aston Villa vs. Liverpool | 0-2 |
| Jan. 17 | Burnley vs. Crystal Palace | 2-3 |
| Jan. 17 | Leicester City vs. Stoke City | 0-1 |
| Jan. 17 | Queens Park Rangers vs. Manchester United | 0-2 |
| Jan. 17 | Swansea City vs. Chelsea | 0-5 |
| Jan. 17 | Tottenham Hotspur vs. Sunderland | 2-1 |
| Jan. 17 | Newcastle United vs. Southampton | 1-2 |
| Jan. 18 | West Ham United vs. Hull City | |
| Jan. 18 | Man City vs. Arsenal | |
| Jan. 19 | Everton vs. West Brom |
| # | Team | Pl | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Chelsea | 22 | 16 | 4 | 2 | 51 | 19 | 32 | 52 |
| 2 | Man City | 21 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 45 | 20 | 25 | 47 |
| 3 | So'ton | 22 | 13 | 3 | 6 | 37 | 16 | 21 | 42 |
| 4 | Man Utd | 22 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 36 | 21 | 15 | 40 |
| 5 | Tottenham | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 32 | 30 | 2 | 37 |
| 6 | Arsenal | 21 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 37 | 25 | 12 | 36 |
| 7 | Liverpool | 22 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 31 | 27 | 4 | 35 |
| 8 | West Ham | 21 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 32 | 25 | 7 | 33 |
| 9 | Swansea | 22 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 26 | 30 | -4 | 30 |
| 10 | Stoke | 22 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 23 | 27 | -4 | 29 |
| 11 | Newcastle | 22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 26 | 35 | -9 | 27 |
| 12 | C Palace | 22 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 25 | 33 | -8 | 23 |
| 13 | Everton | 21 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 30 | 34 | -4 | 22 |
| 14 | A Villa | 22 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 25 | -14 | 22 |
| 15 | W Brom | 21 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 20 | 29 | -9 | 21 |
| 16 | S'land | 22 | 3 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 33 | -14 | 20 |
| 17 | Burnley | 22 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 21 | 36 | -15 | 20 |
| 18 | Hull City | 21 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 20 | 27 | -7 | 19 |
| 19 | QPR | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 23 | 39 | -16 | 19 |
| 20 | Leicester | 22 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 20 | 34 | -14 | 17 |
Chelsea
Chelsea's last two away league games had resulted in a loss to Tottenham and a draw with Southampton but they emphatically returned to winning ways on the road on Saturday as they crushed Swansea.
A fine first half display from the Blues saw them lead inside a minute through Oscar before Diego Costa bagged a double to extend his lead as the league's most prolific scorer.
Oscar made it 4-0 before the break and Andre Schurrle completed the rout with the only second-half goal 11 minutes from time.
It was clinical stuff from Chelsea, a return to their best form, per football writer Miguel Delaney, and further proof that they are the team to beat in this year's title race:
As Delaney notes, Swansea were largely abject and have now failed to win each of their last four league games.
The Welsh outfit currently sit ninth in the Premier League table and have enough quality in the side to turn their form around, although they have now lost Wilfried Bony to City.
Swans boss Garry Monk will no doubt insist on an improved performance next time out in the league against Southampton.
Manchester United
In the end, United's win over QPR at Loftus Road was comfortable, James Wilson adding to Marouane Fellaini's 58th minute strike in stoppage time.
However, certainly the first half was far from convincing from Louis van Gaal's men, enough to draw cries of dissent from the travelling support over the Dutchman's preferred 3-5-2 system, per The Guardian's Amy Lawrence:
Van Gaal obliged his fans, switching up the formation with the introduction of Fellaini for a poor Juan Mata at half time, the Belgian opening the scoring before the hour with a thumping finish from 12 yards, per BBC presenter Gary Lineker:
QPR forced several fine saves from David de Gea and perhaps deserved to take something from the game but they were punished late on as they pushed for an equaliser as 19-year-old Wilson scored on the counter attack.
It was United's first away win in four and they remain in fourth, three points ahead of Spurs in fifth.
However, despite the wealth of talent at Van Gaal's disposal, the Red Devils continue to underwhelm on too regular a basis and cannot be assured of a top four finish unless they improve.
Harry Redknapp's men sit second from bottom in the league but can take some positives away from Saturday's performance in which they troubled United on many occasions.
Liverpool
While United struggle with three in defence, Liverpool seem to be thriving under the system and were once again winners in the league on Saturday as they won 2-0 away at Aston Villa.
It was a fourth league win in five matches and, although not completely convincing, there were plenty of positives for Rodgers to take away, not least a much improved defence, per the Liverpool Echo's James Pearce:
After an appalling start to the season with defensive and attacking issues, it was two Reds front men who wrapped up all three points at Villa Park with Fabio Borini and Rickie Lambert bagging the goals.
Liverpool have now moved into seventh spot, just one point behind Arsenal, and ambitions of a top four finish are looking more and more realistic.
