Barclays Premier League Table: Updated 2015 EPL Outlook After Week 24 Results
Fans may look back on Week 24 of the 2014-15 Premier League season as the deciding moment of the campaign, as Chelsea took full advantage of Manchester City's ongoing struggles by increasing their lead in the standings to seven points.
The Blues beat Aston Villa 2-1—yes, Villa scored—while Hull City held the defending champions to a 1-1 draw, nearly emerging victorious from the Etihad but for a last-minute free-kick from James Milner.
Elsewhere, Tottenham Hotspur beat Arsenal in the north London derby, continuing their push for a top-four finish. Southampton needed a last-minute goal from Sadio Mane to beat Queens Park Rangers, and Liverpool were held to a scoreless draw by Everton in the Merseyside derby.
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The full schedule for Week 24 of the 2014-15 Premier League campaign:
| Saturday, Feb. 7 | 12.45 p.m. | 7:45 a.m. | Tottenham | 2-1 | Arsenal |
| Saturday, Feb. 7 | 3 p.m. | 10 a.m. | Aston Villa | 1-2 | Chelsea |
| Saturday, Feb. 7 | 3 p.m. | 10 a.m. | Leicester | 0-1 | Crystal Palace |
| Saturday, Feb. 7 | 3 p.m. | 10 a.m. | Manchester City | 1-1 | Hull City |
| Saturday, Feb. 7 | 3 p.m. | 10 a.m. | QPR | 0-1 | Southampton |
| Saturday, Feb. 7 | 3 p.m. | 10 a.m. | Swansea | 1-1 | Sunderland |
| Saturday, Feb. 7 | 5.30 p.m. | 12:30 p.m. | Everton | 0-0 | Liverpool |
| Sunday, Feb. 8 | 12 p.m. | 7 a.m. | Burnley | TBD | WBA |
| Sunday, Feb. 8 | 2.05 p.m. | 9:05 a.m. | Newcastle | TBD | Stoke City |
| Sunday, Feb. 8 | 4.15 p.m. | 11:15 a.m. | West Ham | TBD | Manchester United |
The current Premier League standings after Saturday's fixtures:
| 1 | Chelsea | 24 | 17 | 5 | 2 | 54 | 21 | 33 | 56 |
| 2 | Man City | 24 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 47 | 24 | 23 | 49 |
| 3 | Southampton | 24 | 14 | 3 | 7 | 38 | 17 | 21 | 45 |
| 4 | Man United | 23 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 39 | 22 | 17 | 43 |
| 5 | Tottenham | 24 | 13 | 4 | 7 | 37 | 31 | 6 | 43 |
| 6 | Arsenal | 24 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 45 | 27 | 18 | 42 |
| 7 | Liverpool | 24 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 33 | 27 | 6 | 39 |
| 8 | West Ham | 23 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 35 | 27 | 8 | 36 |
| 9 | Swansea | 24 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 28 | 31 | -3 | 34 |
| 10 | Stoke | 23 | 9 | 5 | 9 | 26 | 28 | -2 | 32 |
| 11 | Newcastle | 23 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 29 | 35 | -6 | 30 |
| 12 | Everton | 24 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 31 | 34 | -3 | 27 |
| 13 | Crystal Palace | 24 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 26 | 34 | -8 | 26 |
| 14 | Sunderland | 24 | 4 | 12 | 8 | 22 | 34 | -12 | 24 |
| 15 | West Brom | 23 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 20 | 32 | -12 | 22 |
| 16 | Aston Villa | 24 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 12 | 32 | -20 | 22 |
| 17 | Hull | 24 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 21 | 34 | -13 | 20 |
| 18 | Burnley | 23 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 21 | 38 | -17 | 20 |
| 19 | QPR | 24 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 24 | 43 | -19 | 19 |
| 20 | Leicester | 24 | 4 | 5 | 15 | 21 | 38 | -17 | 17 |
The Title Chase
Don't worry, Manchester City fans. The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations is nearly over.
Fans and pundits alike wondered how the Citizens would cope without the presence of star midfielder Yaya Toure, who spent the past few weeks representing Ivory Coast during AFCON. Squawka Football has the results, and they aren't pretty:
Not all of those draws and losses came in January—Toure missed time earlier this season—but Saturday's draw against Hull means Manuel Pellegrini's men have now gone four consecutive Premier League matches without winning.
Chelsea's record in that span? Three wins, one draw. No wonder the gap at the top of the standings currently sits at seven points.
Seven points is not the football equivalent of a gaping chasm, but given how well Chelsea have played this season, it's difficult to escape the feeling the title race is as good as over. As long as the Blues keep winning these close matches, the gap isn't going to shrink.
Villa came into Saturday's fixture without scoring in six consecutive matches, but the Villans put up a surprisingly good fight against the league leaders. Jose Mourinho noticed that as well, but as the Premier League's official Twitter account shared, the Chelsea manager rightfully remarked his team deservedly won another tight affair:
Toure and Wilfied Bony are going to need time to recover once they return from AFCON, so City's struggles may not be over yet. The season is far from over, but after another draw against inferior opposition, City are dangerously close to losing the plot.
The Race for Europe
Tottenham were but minutes away from entering the top four of the standings, the perfect way to encapsulate how big Saturday's win over rivals Arsenal was.
Spurs demonstrated resilience after an early deficit and a bad showing in the first half. They relied on their youngsters for a 2-1 win and battled back against a team that has had their number for so long. They completely deserved the three points.
Fans didn't exit the stadium happy with the win—they were absolutely ecstatic, as shared by the Press Association's Simon Peach:
Spurs fans should be excited. Harry Kane is a budding star, the team's defence has improved tremendously and as of right now, things are looking good for a top-four finish.
Now, here's the bad news. Southampton beat Queens Park Rangers with a late goal, Manchester United still have to play on Sunday and Arsenal sit just one point behind Spurs in the standings. It's Week 24—the season is far from over.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger knows this as well, via the club's official Twitter feed:
The race for the European tickets should really be taken one match at a time. All teams currently sit so close together—don't forget about Liverpool, either—in the standings, it's pointless to read too much into a single week.
That said, Spurs fans should celebrate. You don't win the north London derby and leap over your rivals in the standings every day.
The Relegation Battle
Another tough week for the newly promoted clubs, with Queens Park Rangers and Leicester City both losing 1-0. QPR came close to opening the score against Southampton on several occasions, but Fraser Forster pulled off several miraculous saves to deny both Joey Barton and Charlie Austin.
Hull City's draw at the Etihad sees the club leap over Burnley in the standings, but the Clarets still have a match in hand. The Tigers could have done themselves a huge favour, putting more distance between themselves and the other relegation-threatened teams, had Milner's last-minute free-kick not gone in.
Caretaker manager Chris Ramsey told QPR fans what supporters of just about every club near the bottom of the standings need to hear:
Rangers' current coaching situation and Leicester City's horrible streak—three straight losses—makes them prime candidates to go down at the end of the season, but similar to the battle for Europe, the race to avoid the drop looks like it could go down to the wire.
