Premier League Table: Updated 2015 EPL Standings Following Matchday 23 Results
Chelsea and Manchester City played out a 1-1 draw on Saturday in Week 23's most anticipated fixture, conserving the five-point gap at the top of the standings with 15 matches left on the schedule.
Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur did what they had to do on Saturday, recording comfortable wins to heap pressure on Southampton and Arsenal, who will play on Sunday.
Queens Park Rangers are still waiting for their first points away from Loftus Road after a 3-1 loss against Stoke City, while Newcastle United grabbed their first win under new manager John Carver against Hull City. The full results for Week 23:
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| 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 |
The current Premier League standings:
| 1 | Chelsea | 23 | 16 | 5 | 2 | 52 | 20 | 32 | 53 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 23 | 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 | 25 | 19 | 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 | 30 | -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 cruised to an emphatic 5-0 victory over Aston Villa, leapfrogging rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the process. Goals from Olivier Giroud, Mesut Ozil, Theo Walcott, Santi Cazorla and Hector Bellerin meant that Alexis Sanchez’s absence wasn’t felt at the Emirates, as Paul Lambert’s side failed to trouble the scorers again.
From the first whistle, the visitors left massive gaps at the back, and although their aggressive pressing limited the Gunners to just one goal in the first half, they unravelled in tepid fashion in the second.
In his first Premier League start since returning from injury, it was Ozil who did the damage for the hosts. The German international relished in the vacuous pockets being left by the away side, teasing the Villa back line with his subtle movement and intricate, incisive passing.
As noted here by Bleacher Report’s Sam Tighe, his back-heeled assist to Giroud for the opener was very special:
The visitors had a couple of chances to level things up before the break, but they tired badly afterwards, as the vision of Ozil, artistry of Cazorla and directness of Walcott coalesced into some wonderful attacking forays for the Gunners.
Ozil got on the scoresheet himself to put Arsenal two in front early in the second half, while Walcott added a third with a thumping finish from the edge of the box not long after.
The Englishman has also looked replenished as of late after a substantial injury layoff and, as noted by Infostrada Sports, it’s been a long time since the winger was in such prolific form:
Cazorla made it four when his penalty squirmed in past Brad Guzan and Bellerin rounded off the rout with a measured strike from the edge of the box in stoppage time.
The Spanish full-back took to Twitter in the aftermath of the match to express his delight at what was his first-ever Premier League goal:
Arsenal are looking in excellent shape at the moment and will carry some serious momentum into next week’s clash with Spurs. Alexis should be back for that one, giving the Gunners even more attacking firepower, and it’ll be interesting to see which players Wenger decides to pick alongside the Chilean talisman.
As for Villa, this was the latest moribund showing in a really poor campaign. As we can see here courtesy of 101 Great Goals, from an attacking perspective they are particularly disappointing:
Lambert’s side are just three points clear of the relegation zone and, after this terrible defeat, now have the worst goal difference in the entire division. They have the quality to stay up, but it’s clear big changes must be made if they’re to halt a slide into the Championship.
In the game following, Swansea City picked up an excellent 1-0 win at Southampton. The Welsh side were forced to defend for long periods but snatched a victory 10 minutes from time thanks to a fine long-range strike from Jonjo Shelvey.
The first half saw a much-changed Swansea team struggle to contain Southampton, who were making real inroads down their right-hand side. The pairing of Dusan Tadic and Nathaniel Clyne were causing big problems for the Welsh side, but they were unable to find a telling pass or add a finishing touch to their play.
Nonetheless, Tighe commented on how polished a performance it had been from the Saints, as Garry Monk’s team managed to get through to half-time with the score at 0-0:
The second half followed suit, with Koeman’s men doing most of the pressing. But to the frustration of the fans packed into St. Mary’s, Swansea were looking increasingly capable of dealing with all the home side had to throw at them.
As noted by FourFourTwo, with 10 minutes to go, the visitors weren’t offering much in terms of an attacking threat:
That was about to change in emphatic fashion, though. Shelvey picked the ball up with seemingly little danger on 30 yards out, but the midfielder struck a sweet efforts toward the Saints goal, and Fraser Forster was unable to claw it out.
As noted by 101 Great Goals, the goalkeeper should have probably done much better:
To cap off Southampton's misery, Ryan Bertrand saw red in the closing stages in a day that was definitely one to forget for the hosts.
Saturday Recap
The Blues could have opened up an eight-point lead over defending champions Manchester City but elected to defend the 1-1 draw in the second half, after David Silva had cancelled out Loic Remy's opening goal. The Blues didn't record a single shot on goal after half-time but defended well, and even Frank Lampard couldn't change the outcome of the match in his return to Stamford Bridge.
Manchester United leapt back over Southampton in the standings following their 3-1 win over Leicester City, avenging the embarrassing 5-3 thrashing the Foxes handed to them in September.
Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao scored for the hosts, who also benefited from an own-goal, courtesy of Wes Morgan. The Foxes hardly threatened David de Gea in the second half but ruined his clean sheet via Marcin Wasilewski, putting the final score on the board.
United were far from perfect, however, and the Sport Bible's Liam still hopes manager Louis van Gaal will invest in defensive reinforcements:
Daniel Sturridge celebrated his return to the pitch with a goal for Liverpool in their 2-0 win over West Ham United, allowing the Reds to leap over the Hammers in the standings.
The England international needed just 12 minutes to find the net, and as shared by the club's official Twitter feed, he was visibly satisfied with his contribution during his post-match interview:
"Hear from @D_Sturridge as he talks to @LFCTV after the @PremierLeague clash finishes #LFC 2-0 @whufc_official. https://t.co/WBFIL07ksb
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 31, 2015"
Sturridge looked rusty in his passing but as efficient as ever in front of goal, and he will give the Reds a huge boost heading into the latter part of the season.
Harry Kane continued his fantastic season with a brace in Tottenham's 3-0 win over West Bromwich Albion, striking twice after Christian Eriksen opened the score with a fantastic free-kick.
Former England international Gary Lineker is impressed with the youngster's development:
"Fabulous finish from Harry Kane. He gets better and better.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) January 31, 2015"
QPR suffered another away loss on Saturday, continuing their record-setting performances away from Loftus Road. Entering February, Rangers still haven't won a single point when going on the road this season.
Bleacher Report UK couldn't help themselves:
Romelu Lukaku scored early to give Everton a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace, new Newcastle boss Carver recorded his first win with a 3-0 thrashing of Hull City and Sunderland easily beat Burnley 2-0. Chelsea and City will go head-to-head in the last of Saturday's fixtures.
