EPL Table: Updated Premier League Standings, Fixtures, Title Odds After Week 28

Chelsea scored a road victory over West Ham to remain in firm control of the Premier League title chase as the finish line begins to appear on the horizon. Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United also won to keep pace just in case the Blues' form suddenly drops off sharply.

Jose Mourinho has his squad in ideal position. The leaders are five points clear of City and also have a match in hand. It would take a completely unexpected turn of events in the weeks ahead for another club to raise the trophy at season's end.

With that in mind, let's check out how the Premier League table shapes up after the midweek matches. That's followed by a listing for next full slate of league games, updated title odds and a recap of some notable storylines to emerge during Week 28.

Updated EPL Table

Rank	Club	GP	W	D	L	GD	PTS
1	Chelsea	27	19	6	2	+35	63
2	Manchester City	28	17	7	4	+32	58
3	Arsenal	28	16	6	6	+23	54
4	Manchester United	28	15	8	5	+21	53
5	Liverpool	28	15	6	7	+12	51
6	Southampton	28	15	4	9	+19	49
7	Tottenham	27	14	5	8	+6	47
8	Stoke	28	12	6	10	-1	42
9	Swansea	28	11	7	10	-4	40
10	West Ham	28	10	9	9	+5	39
11	Newcastle	28	9	8	11	-11	35
12	Crystal Palace	28	7	9	12	-8	30
13	West Brom	28	7	9	12	-10	30
14	Everton	28	6	10	12	-8	28
15	Hull	28	6	9	13	-11	27
16	Sunderland	28	4	14	10	-16	26
17	Aston Villa	28	6	7	15	-23	25
18	QPR	27	6	4	17	-19	22
19	Burnley	28	4	10	14	-22	22
20	Leicester	27	4	6	17	-20	18

Matchday 29 Fixtures

Date	Home	Road
March 14	Crystal Palace	QPR
March 14	Arsenal	West Ham
March 14	Leicester	Hull
March 14	Sunderland	Aston Villa
March 14	West Brom	Stoke
March 14	Burnley	Manchester City
March 15	Chelsea	Southampton
March 15	Everton	Newcastle
March 15	Manchester United	Tottenham
March 16	Swansea	Liverpool

Championship Odds

Rank	Club	Odds
1	Chelsea	1-7
2	Manchester City	15-2
3	Arsenal	50-1
4	Manchester United	150-1
5	Liverpool	275-1

Week 28 Review

Chelsea were not at their best on Wednesday. Perhaps that shouldn't come as a surprise since they were coming off a Capital One Cup triumph over the weekend. Sometimes it's hard to get the emotions back in check for a match so soon after winning a trophy.

The Blues did what elite teams must do in order to win the league, though. They found a way to win without showcasing top form. The club passed along comments from Mourinho about the performance against West Ham:

ESPN FC noted it was their goalkeeper they had to thank for emerging with all three points:

Manchester United were among the second wave of contenders to pick up all three points on Wednesday. Louis van Gaal and Co. probably wonder where they would be in the table if not for the lackluster beginning portion of the campaign.

Now the focus is locking down a Champions League spot. Chasing down Chelsea, even if the Blues hit the skids, would be difficult given their remaining schedule. Genius Football highlighted the difficult remaining schedule they have across all competitions:

"

Good luck Manchester United pic.twitter.com/jy6uZnuyB1

— GeniusFootball (@GeniusFootball) March 4, 2015"

That could open the UCL door for a club like Liverpool. The Reds currently sit two points behind United after a convincing 2-0 win over Burnley. It continued a trend of strong form the side has displayed in recent weeks.

Andrew Beasley of the Tomkins Times provided a graphic that shows the tendency of Brendan Rodgers' side to come on late in each of the last two terms:

One club worth watching closely down the stretch on the opposite end of the spectrum is Everton. The Toffees finished fifth last season and have performed well in the Europa League appearances that result earned them.

Their league form has been poor, though. That continued this week with a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Stoke. The side's inability to finish consistently remains a serious concern. They must start scraping together some points pretty soon, or a relegation fight might become reality.

David Anderson of the Daily Mirror believes they will ultimately survive, but he made it clear they weren't good enough against the Potters:

All told, not much changed in the Premier League during Week 28. The clubs that needed to win in order to keep their title hopes alive did exactly that. It's great news for Chelsea, which moves one step closer to another trophy.

It's unlikely every set of matches will maintain such a steady state, though. There are probably a couple more twists and turns to come, at least when it comes to European spots and relegation. That should make for an interesting final stretch.