EPL Table: Updated Premier League Standings, Fixtures, Title Odds After Week 24
A feeling of glee will descend upon Chelsea fans when looking at the Premier League table after Week 24's results. Victory over Aston Villa, combined with Manchester City's draw against Hull, has pushed the Blues seven points clear with just 14 matches remaining.
As such, Manuel Pellegrini's side will now be looking backwards rather than forwards. Southampton crept two points nearer with their last-gasp win over Queens Park Rangers, while Manchester United maintained pace with their dramatic draw against West Ham.
Tottenham announced themselves as Champions League contenders in the grandest way possible with the 2-1 comeback win against rivals Arsenal, while Liverpool remain on the periphery after their 0-0 draw in the Merseyside derby.
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Here's the full set of results from Week 24:
| Saturday, Feb. 7 | Tottenham | 2-1 | Arsenal |
| Saturday, Feb. 7 | Aston Villa | 1-2 | Chelsea |
| Saturday, Feb. 7 | Leicester | 0-1 | Crystal Palace |
| Saturday, Feb. 7 | Manchester City | 1-1 | Hull |
| Saturday, Feb. 7 | QPR | 0-1 | Southampton |
| Saturday, Feb. 7 | Swansea | 1-1 | Sunderland |
| Saturday, Feb. 7 | Everton | 0-0 | Liverpool |
| Sunday, Feb. 8 | Burnley | 2-2 | West Brom |
| Sunday, Feb. 8 | Newcastle | 1-1 | Stoke |
| Sunday, Feb. 8 | West Ham | 1-1 | Manchester United |
With these scores in mind, be sure to check the latest standings below:
| 1 | Chelsea | 24 | 17 | 5 | 2 | 54 | 21 | 33 | 56 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 24 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 47 | 24 | 23 | 49 |
| 3 | Southampton | 24 | 14 | 3 | 7 | 38 | 17 | 21 | 45 |
| 4 | Manchester United | 24 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 40 | 23 | 17 | 44 |
| 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 | 24 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 36 | 28 | 8 | 37 |
| 9 | Swansea | 24 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 28 | 31 | -3 | 34 |
| 10 | Stoke | 24 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 27 | 29 | -2 | 33 |
| 11 | Newcastle | 24 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 30 | 36 | -6 | 31 |
| 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 | 24 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 22 | 34 | -12 | 23 |
| 16 | Aston Villa | 24 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 12 | 32 | -20 | 22 |
| 17 | Burnley | 24 | 4 | 9 | 11 | 23 | 40 | -17 | 21 |
| 18 | Hull | 24 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 21 | 34 | -13 | 20 |
| 19 | QPR | 24 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 24 | 43 | -19 | 19 |
| 20 | Leicester | 24 | 4 | 5 | 15 | 21 | 38 | -17 | 17 |
The bookmakers currently have Chelsea outlined as major favourites to secure the crown from City. Here's a look at the latest odds:
| Chelsea | 1-8 |
| Manchester City | 13-2 |
| Manchester United | 66-1 |
| Arsenal | 100-1 |
| Southampton | 300-1 |
| Tottenham | 350-1 |
| Liverpool | 500-1 |
Chelsea Cantering Toward Title
Jose Mourinho's side are showing all the signs of becoming champions, and comfortably too. Chelsea didn't play particularly well against a goal-shy Aston Villa—who ended their seven Premier League-game run without netting, per WhoScored.com—but still emerged victorious.
Even without Diego Costa, Mourinho was able to rely on the overall firepower of his team to get the job done. Branislav Ivanovic's winner underlines a Blues side who possess goalscoring power across the spectrum, meaning if the forwards are quiet, there's always the chance of someone else snatching the win.
Eden Hazard's consistency also continues to define the side's output, as noted by OptaJoe:
City's failure to beat Hull at home highlighted their poor turn of form since Yaya Toure left for the Africa Cup of Nations, per Sky Sports:
Toure is due back imminently after winning the trophy with Cote D'Ivoire, but Pellegrini will now be counting the fixtures in which Chelsea could drop points on one hand. Should Mourinho's side beat a disappointing Everton team on Wednesday, it's perhaps Chelsea's away tie against Arsenal on April 25 which represents the most likely slip-up.
The league leaders face Tottenham, Southampton, Manchester United and Liverpool at home in the most notable of their other toughest remaining ties. Considering Chelsea are unbeaten in 11 Stamford Bridge fixtures this season—only dropping points during the recent draw with City—it seems as if the Premier League crown is destined to be draped in Chelsea's shade of blue by the time May arrives.
Battle for Top Four will Provide Most Drama
At the conclusion of Week 24, just six points separates Southampton in third and Liverpool in seventh. The battle for third and fourth is heating up, and as the title slips away from City, it's likely to produce the most drama.
This is largely due to a number of late goals during the last round of matches. Sadio Mane's last-second winner provided Saints with an invaluable three points against relegation-threatened QPR, who stood on the brink of an excellent draw.
Daley Blind's second draw-snatcher of the season gave Manchester United an unlikely point against West Ham. This could prove to be huge once the campaign ends, no matter what Sam Allardyce thinks of the club's tactics, per Sky Sports:
Still, neither goal could turn out to be as important as Harry Kane's latest brace. If Tottenham manage to topple Arsenal—a huge if—it would be the first time in Arsene Wenger's reign that he's failed to keep the Gunners' North London rivals at bay. Mauricio Pochettino's team are playing confident, incisive football and have a prolific goalscorer to lead the way, reported by Sky Sports:
Kane poached two excellent goals against the Gunners and is now the side's biggest hope for securing a Champions League place.
Liverpool's failure to beat Everton stopped Brendan Rodgers' team closing the gap on Arsenal to one point, but it's the Reds who can shake things up further when Spurs visit on Tuesday. Victory against the in-form side could deflate Pochettino's European aspirations before they've really had time to take off, but of course, failure to win will likely see further ground lost.
Things really are balanced on a knife-edge here. Southampton's ability to turn likely draws into wins currently has them sitting ahead of most, so the likes of United, Liverpool, Spurs and Arsenal can't afford to drop points in favourable fixtures. Rodgers will know this and must set his side out to beat Tottenham before the FA Cup provides a distraction.
With Chelsea skipping away at the top, this storyline is destined to gain momentum in the coming weeks. For the first time in years, there's the major possibility an unexpected side—Saints or Spurs—could make the Champions League.
A minimal amount of points is likely to make the difference when the end of the season arrives, so we now have the privilege of watching six teams who cannot afford to make mistakes.
