EPL Table: Updated Premier League Standings, Fixtures, Title Odds After Week 27

Will anyone catch Chelsea?

With a five-point lead and a game in hand, the Blues appear to be on their way to running away with the Premier League title. Of course, a lot can change in a short time in the Premier League, and after another thrilling week of action in Matchday 27, there are sure to be twists and turns down the line.

But which teams might yet challenge for the top spot? And which squads will emerge in the tight race for a top-four finish? Along with taking a look at the updated table, upcoming fixtures and table odds, I'll attempt to project the rest of the Premier League season.

Table

Place	Team	G	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Chelsea	26	18	6	2	56	22	34	60
2	Manchester City	27	16	7	4	57	27	30	55
3	Arsenal	27	15	6	6	51	29	22	51
4	Manchester United	27	14	8	5	46	26	20	50
5	Liverpool	27	14	6	7	40	30	10	48
6	Southampton	27	14	4	9	38	20	18	46
7	Tottenham Hotspur	26	13	5	8	41	36	5	44
8	Swansea City	27	11	7	9	31	34	-3	40
9	West Ham United	27	10	9	8	39	33	6	39
10	Stoke City	27	11	6	10	31	34	-3	39
11	Newcastle United	27	9	8	10	32	42	-10	35
12	Crystal Palace	27	7	9	11	31	38	-7	30
13	West Bromwich Albion	27	7	9	11	25	34	-9	30
14	Everton	27	6	10	11	33	39	-6	28
15	Hull City	27	6	8	13	25	36	-11	26
16	Sunderland	27	4	13	10	22	38	-16	25
17	Queens Park Rangers	26	6	4	16	27	45	-18	22
18	Burnley	27	4	10	13	25	45	-20	22
19	Aston Villa	27	5	7	15	13	37	-24	22
20	Leicester City	26	4	6	16	24	42	-18	18

Upcoming Fixtures

Date	Time (ET)	Home	Away
Tuesday, March 3	2:45 p.m.	Aston Villa	West Brom
Tuesday, March 3	2:45 p.m.	Hull	Sunderland
Tuesday, March 3	2:45 p.m.	Southampton	Crystal Palace
Wednesday, March 4	2:45 p.m.	Manchester City	Leicester City
Wednesday, March 4	2:45 p.m.	Newcastle	Manchester United
Wednesday, March 4	2:45 p.m.	QPR	Arsenal
Wednesday, March 4	2:45 p.m.	Stoke City	Everton
Wednesday, March 4	2:45 p.m.	Tottenham	Swansea City
Wednesday, March 4	2:45 p.m.	West Ham	Chelsea
Wednesday, March 4	3 p.m.	Liverpool	Burnley

Title Odds

Team	Odds
Chelsea	1-7
Manchester City	13-2
Arsenal	66-1
Manchester United	100-1
Liverpool	200-1
Tottenham	500-1
Southampton	500-1

Looking Ahead

Clive Mason/Getty Images

Chelsea aren't out of the woods just yet. The Blues still have tough matches to come against Southampton, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool (though only Arsenal is away from home). The fact that the rough stretch of Chelsea's schedule is at home doesn't bode well for Manchester City, as Chelsea have yet to lose at Stamford Bridge in Premier League play (11 wins, two draws).

Still, the Blues have been susceptible to underachieving against weaker teams on the road under Jose Mourinho. Last season, away fixtures at Swansea City, Aston Villa, Stoke City and Newcastle resulted in losses, while they drew with West Brom. That meant that the Blues dropped 14 of a possible 15 points they would have expected to earn, the main reason City raised the trophy and the Blues finished third.

In other words, the Blues could yet blow this.

For now, however, the more interesting race appears to be for a top-four finish, as five teams are within seven points of one another between the third spot on the table (Arsenal) and seventh (Tottenham). The top three contenders for the last two spots, however, are Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool. 

Nothing like the three most successful clubs in English football history doing battle down the stretch, eh?

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Each have their merits. Arsenal have finished in the top four in 18 straight seasons under Arsene Wenger and always seem to be playing their best football as the season comes to a close. The Gunners have recently adapted their style somewhat, playing a bit more defensively and utilizing Francis Coquelin as the holding player while moving Santi Cazorla to a box-to-box role alongside of him. 

While disaster struck for the Gunners in the Champions League against Monaco, the tweaks to the system has led to nine wins in Arsenal's last 11 games in all competitions. Few teams in the Premier League possess Arsenal's skill and finesse in the midfield or in the wings, so if Olivier Giroud can more consistently finish his chances and the defense tightens up, they'll be tough to dislodge from a top-four place.

Oh, and that's if they can take some results against the league's top teams, which has become an issue in recent years. They certainly dispatch of the lower-level squads, as Adrian Healey of ESPN quipped about on Twitter:

Manchester United, meanwhile, might have the most raw talent of the bunch, especially in their attacking force. Like Arsenal, the question will be more about the defense than about United's ability to score goals and this group's ability to finish in a top-four spot for the first time under Louis van Gaal.

And then there is Liverpool.

On some days, the Reds seem downright unbeatable and, as they showed on Sunday after beating Manchester City 2-1, always with a penchant for the dramatic winner. They are certainly red-hot at the moment, having not lost in the new year in Premier League play, and manager Brendan Rodgers was delighted with his team after Sunday's win, per BBC Football News on Twitter:

On other days, they are pedestrian, plodding, a team still not quite over the loss of Luis Suarez this summer. Where the Gunners have Alexis Sanchez to lean on and United can pick from a wide cast of characters, Liverpool sometimes suffer from a lack of a true talisman or match-winner.

Some days, it is Philippe Coutinho. Some days, Raheem Sterling. When he is healthy, Steven Gerrard still have some magic in him. Ditto for Daniel Sturridge. But unless one of them steps up and consistently provides the magic for the Reds, keeping pace with Arsenal and United is going to be tough for the Reds.