EPL Table: Latest Week 23 Results, Scores and 2015 Premier League Standings
Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham all won their Week 23 fixtures with relative ease, taking advantage of Southampton's loss against Swansea City to make the battle for the final two Champions League tickets a close one heading into the final part of the 2014-15 Premier League season.
Defending champions Manchester City and league-leaders Chelsea played out a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge in Saturday's late match, keeping the five-point gap at the top of the standings intact. The full results for Matchday 23:
| Saturday, Jan. 31 | Hull | 0-3 | Newcastle |
| Saturday, Jan. 31 | Crystal Palace | 0-1 | Everton |
| Saturday, Jan. 31 | Liverpool | 2-0 | West Ham |
| Saturday, Jan. 31 | Manchester United | 3-1 | Leicester |
| Saturday, Jan. 31 | Stoke City | 3-1 | QPR |
| Saturday, Jan. 31 | Sunderland | 2-0 | Burnley |
| Saturday, Jan. 31 | WBA | 0-3 | Tottenham |
| Saturday, Jan. 31 | Chelsea | 1-1 | Manchester City |
| Sunday, Feb. 2 | Arsenal | 5-0 | Aston Villa |
| Sunday, Feb. 2 | Southampton | 0-1 | Swansea |
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Current Premier League standings:
| 1 | Chelsea | 22 | 16 | 5 | 2 | 52 | 20 | 32 | 53 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 22 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 46 | 23 | 23 | 48 |
| 3 | Manchester United | 23 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 39 | 22 | 17 | 43 |
| 4 | Southampton | 23 | 13 | 3 | 7 | 37 | 17 | 20 | 42 |
| 5 | Arsenal | 23 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 44 | 29 | 14 | 42 |
| 6 | Tottenham | 23 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 35 | 30 | 5 | 40 |
| 7 | Liverpool | 23 | 11 | 5 | 7 | 33 | 27 | 6 | 38 |
| 8 | West Ham | 23 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 35 | 27 | 8 | 36 |
| 9 | Swansea | 23 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 27 | 30 | -3 | 33 |
| 10 | Stoke City | 23 | 9 | 5 | 9 | 26 | 28 | -2 | 32 |
| 11 | Newcastle | 23 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 29 | 35 | -6 | 30 |
| 12 | Everton | 23 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 31 | 34 | -3 | 26 |
| 13 | Crystal Palace | 23 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 25 | 34 | -9 | 23 |
| 14 | Sunderland | 23 | 4 | 11 | 8 | 21 | 33 | -12 | 23 |
| 15 | WBA | 23 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 20 | 32 | -12 | 22 |
| 16 | Aston Villa | 23 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 11 | 29 | -19 | 22 |
| 17 | Burnley | 23 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 21 | 38 | -17 | 20 |
| 18 | Hull City | 23 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 20 | 33 | -13 | 19 |
| 19 | QPR | 23 | 5 | 4 | 14 | 24 | 42 | -18 | 19 |
| 20 | Leicester | 23 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 21 | 37 | -16 | 17 |
Sunday Recap
Arsenal trashed Aston Villa 5-0 in Sunday's early match, putting even more pressure on Villa manager Paul Lambert after a series of poor performances culminated in the heavy defeat at the Emirates Stadium.
Mesut Ozil was fantastic pulling the strings and Theo Walcott scored his first Premier League goal since the horrific injury he suffered against Tottenham Hotspur, as just about everything went right for the Gunners.
The Claret and Blue set a new club record for consecutive matches without scoring a single goal, according to Squawka Football:
Compared to the rest of the teams in one of England's top divisions, their scoring record is downright awful, per Sky Sports:
Olivier Giroud gave the hosts the lead after just eight minutes, and while Arsenal had plenty of chances to double their advantage in the first half, there was some cause for concern as the two teams went into half-time separated by just a single goal.
Those concerns were soon put to bed in the second half, as Ozil made it 2-0 after just 10 minutes. Walcott, Santi Cazorla and Hector Bellerin put the final score on the board, but as shared by Bleacher Report UK, Germany international Ozil was at the heart of every attack:
Arsene Wenger was visibly satisfied with his team's performance after the match, but when he was pressured into talking about the Gunners' transfer plans going into deadline day, the French manager told reporters very little:
Southampton are the big losers of Week 23 following their 1-0 home loss against Swansea City, dropping to fourth in the standings and seeing Arsenal pull level on points.
Ronald Koeman's men fell victim to a late Jonjo Shelvey goal and finished the match with 10 players after Ryan Bertrand was dismissed for a horrific challenge in the final minute.
Saturday Recap
Chelsea and Manchester City shared the spoils in Week 23's marquee fixture, a 1-1 draw that ensure the Blues keep a five-point lead at the top of the standings. Loic Remy gave the hosts the lead before David Silva equalised just before half-time, and while City pushed for a winner in the second half, Chelsea's vaunted defence held up, salvaging a point.
Manchester United avenged the embarrassing 5-3 loss they suffered at the hands of Leicester City back in September, beating the Foxes 3-1 in dominant fashion on Saturday.
Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao both scored in the first half, and Wes Morgan's own-goal gave the Red Devils a comfortable lead heading into the dressing room. As shared by Squawka Football, the hosts easily dominated the first half:
Leicester City were able to pull one back in the second half, but United's win was never truly in doubt. Football writer Iain Macintosh believed the official could just as easily have ended the match at half-time:
Daniel Sturridge scored on his return to the pitch for Liverpool in a 2-0 win over West Ham United, as the Reds leap over the Hammers in the standings and now sit within two spots of a European ticket.
The England international looked rusty in buildup play but as effective as ever in front of goal, prompting this tweet from Squawka's Jack Watson:
Former Red Andy Carroll didn't enjoy his return to Anfield at all, as suffered an injury while trying to tackle Emre Can, a challenge for which he received a booking to boot.
One of the clubs sitting just above Liverpool in the standings is Tottenham Hotspur, and Spurs continued their fine run of results with an easy 3-0 win over West Bromwich Albion.
Christian Eriksen opened the score with a beautiful free kick before Harry Kane bagged himself another brace, taking his tally to an impressive 20 goals across all competitions, via the club's official Twitter feed:
Queens Park Rangers' dreadful record away from Loftus Road continued with a 3-1 loss at the hands of Stoke City, while Romelu Lukaku scored the only goal in Everton's 1-0 win over Crystal Palace. Sunderland beat Burnley 2-0, putting some real distance between themselves and the club stuck in the relegation zone.
Newcastle United easily beat Hull City 3-0, thanks to goals from Remy Cabella, Sammy Ameobi and Yoan Gouffran. Ahmed El Mohamady undoubtedly stole the headlines, however, with a blatant handball mimicking Diego Maradona's famous Hand-of-God goal.
Unlike the Argentina legend, the Hull City man didn't get away with his attempt, per Squawka Football:
As shared by BBC Sport, manager John Carver had nothing but praise for his squad after the win, the Magpies' first under his guidance:
Chelsea and Manchester City will conclude Saturday's action when they face off at Stamford Bridge later in the day.
