Premier League Table: Latest 2015 EPL Standings and Predictions for Matchday 27

Premier League leaders Chelsea will turn their attention to the Capital One Cup Final against Tottenham Hotspur next weekend, leaving Manchester City with a chance to climb closer to the summit.

Manuel Pellegrini's side has no easy task on its hands, though, as it travels to face Liverpool in a clutch fixture for both sides, with the Reds hoping to give their European chances a boost.

The fixture schedule may be reduced to eight matches, but by no means will the English top flight suffer in terms of excitement as we look ahead to the key collisions on Matchday 27.

Date	Time	Home	Prediction	Away
Saturday, Feb. 28	12:45 p.m. GMT/7:45 a.m. ET	West Ham United	3-1	Crystal Palace
Saturday, Feb. 28	3 p.m. GMT/10 a.m. ET	Burnley	2-2	Swansea City
Saturday, Feb. 28	3 p.m. GMT/10 a.m. ET	Manchester United	2-0	Sunderland
Saturday, Feb. 28	3 p.m. GMT/10 a.m. ET	Newcastle United	1-0	Aston Villa
Saturday, Feb. 28	3 p.m. GMT/10 a.m. ET	Stoke City	2-1	Hull City
Saturday, Feb. 28	3 p.m. GMT/10 a.m. ET	West Brom	1-2	Southampton
Sunday, March 1	12 p.m. GMT/7 a.m. ET	Liverpool	2-2	Manchester City
Sunday, March 1	2:05 p.m. GMT/9:05 a.m. ET	Arsenal	3-0	Everton

Position	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Chelsea	26	18	6	2	56	22	34	60
2	Manchester City	26	16	7	3	56	25	31	55
3	Arsenal	26	14	6	6	49	29	20	48
4	Manchester United	26	13	8	5	44	26	18	47
5	Southampton	26	14	4	8	38	19	19	46
6	Liverpool	26	13	6	7	38	29	9	45
7	Tottenham Hotspur	26	13	5	8	41	36	5	44
8	West Ham United	26	10	9	7	38	30	8	39
9	Swansea City	26	10	7	9	30	34	-4	37
10	Stoke City	26	10	6	10	30	34	-4	36
11	Newcastle United	26	8	8	10	31	42	-11	32
12	Everton	26	6	10	10	33	37	-4	28
13	Crystal Palace	26	6	9	11	28	37	-9	27
14	West Bromwich Albion	26	6	9	11	24	34	-10	27
15	Hull City	26	6	8	12	25	35	-10	26
16	Sunderland	26	4	13	9	22	36	-14	25
17	Queens Park Rangers	26	6	4	16	27	45	-18	22
18	Burnley	26	4	10	12	25	44	-19	22
19	Aston Villa	26	5	7	14	13	36	-23	22
20	Leicester City	26	4	6	16	24	42	-18	18

Must-Watch Matchups

Manchester United vs. Sunderland

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal will issue a call to arms against Sunderland. He looks to ensure the Red Devils' away defeat to Swansea City this past weekend was nothing but a blip in their progress.

Stu Forster/Getty Images

Van Gaal's side suffered just a second defeat of 2015 at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday, while the Black Cats picked up a point from their draw against West Brom.

Liverpool's 2-0 victory at Southampton on Sunday works in United's favour to some extent, stopping the Saints from cutting the Red Devils out of the top four despite the Reds moving within two points of fourth themselves.

Club captain Wayne Rooney was among United's critics following the slip-up against the Swans and was quoted by Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News as saying:

"

Of course, it is hard to take. Certainly, in the second-half, I thought we dominated up until they scored and I thought we got a great goal to go 1-0 up. I was really disappointed in the way we conceded, coming from a throw-in so soon after we scored.

We went in at half-time knowing that we could play. In the second-half they were struggling to get out but then they hit us with a sucker punch, a shot from 30 yards and a deflected goal. These things happen but it was a disappointing day for us.

"

Returning to Old Trafford, United can hope for improvement against Gus Poyet's men, who have claimed only two league wins away from the Stadium of Light this season, both of which came before Christmas.

The Black Cats have also failed to score in each of their last two Premier League outings, giving Van Gaal's defence some hope of an easier day at the office.

Prediction: Manchester United 2-0 Sunderland

Liverpool vs. Manchester City

Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

Liverpool masterminded a 3-2 win over the Citizens when these two teams clashed at Anfield last April. A Philippe Coutinho strike gave the Reds a dramatic win over the eventual league champions.

Following Sunday's victory at St. Mary's, Brendan Rodgers' side has high hopes once again of claiming a place in next season's Champions League. Morale is the highest it's been for some time at Anfield. 

Michael Regan/Getty Images

Manchester City are on a high themselves after climbing to within five points of Chelsea following a 5-0 rout of Newcastle United this past Saturday. They have the chance to pull Jose Mourinho's men even closer in Week 27.

Pellegrini is confident the titleholders can still dethrone Chelsea at the top of the pile too, speaking to BBC Sport (h/t Goal.com's Christopher Devine) after the victory against the Magpies:

"

I'm very pleased because we returned to being a scoring team here at home and also because we didn't concede goals. Of course if the other teams drop points it's better for us, especially Chelsea because we don't depend on just what we can do.

All the other teams are behind us in the table, so it doesn't matter what they do if we continue winning. If we want to continue fighting for the title, we need Chelsea to drop more points, but we have to play [for] another 36 points more, so that's a lot of time.

"

Before the trip to Merseyside, however, Manchester City have a Champions League round-of-16 tie against Barcelona to concentrate on this Tuesday, a fixture that could alter their perceptions ahead of Liverpool.

Nevertheless, the battle between last season's first- and second-place finishers is a meeting of in-form outfits, with Rodgers' men hoping to extend their unbeaten run to 11 consecutive matches.

Prediction: Liverpool 2-2 Manchester City

Arsenal vs. Everton

Clive Rose/Getty Images

It was only 12 months ago that a meeting between Arsenal and Everton was considered a tense fixture in the race for fourth spot, but the two outfits clash on Sunday with far different prospects this time around.

While the Gunners remain locked in a battle to maintain their top-four streak, the Toffees sit lodged in the bottom half of the table, writer Samuel Jay C detailing just what a difference a year makes:

Roberto Martinez's side came within minutes of suffering a home defeat to bottom side Leicester City on Sunday, but an 88th-minute own goal from Matthew Upson salvaged a 2-2 draw for the Goodison Park hosts.

Arsenal, meanwhile, are now three games unbeaten across all competitions, and striker Olivier Giroud has told French broadcaster Telefoot (h/t Goal.com's Tom Beck) that things are on the up at the Emirates Stadium:

"

The club had some reinforcement in recent years with players like Mesut and Alexis. We’re building a team that can go toe-to-toe with the greatest. We call Alexis 'Duracell' in the dressing-room; he repeats his efforts and displays and he has the determination and ambition of a 20-year-old.

Mesut has a quiet strength. He is very quiet, almost introverted. He is very comfortable from a technical aspect and when he is concentrated enough, he often makes the difference. Cazorla reads the play very well. I enjoy a particular relationship with him, as we arrived together at Arsenal and find each other well on the pitch.

"

Both teams have European fixtures to think about before their north London clash, with Arsenal at home to Monaco on Wednesday before the Toffees play host to Young Boys on Thursday.   

That extra day's rest and the current form of the two sides would peg the Gunners out as early favourites to come out on top next Sunday, hoping for a better result than the 1-1 draw they settled for in this fixture last season.

Prediction: Arsenal 3-0 Everton