Premier League Table: Latest 2015 EPL Standings and Predictions for Matchday 29

With the exception of one matchup this upcoming weekend, the Premier League will be taking a week off, much to the chagrin of EPL addicts everywhere. But absence makes the heart grow fonder, and Matchday 29 promises some excellent contests. 

Below, I'll take a look at the current table, offer my predictions for the upcoming contests and preview what's next to come.

Standings

	Place	Team	G	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
	1	Chelsea	27	19	6	2	57	22	35	63
	2	Manchester City	28	17	7	4	59	27	32	58
	3	Arsenal	28	16	6	6	53	30	23	54
	4	Manchester United	28	15	8	5	47	26	21	53
	5	Liverpool	28	15	6	7	42	30	12	51
	6	Southampton	28	15	4	9	39	20	19	49
	7	Tottenham Hotspur	27	14	5	8	44	38	6	47
	8	Stoke City	28	12	6	10	33	34	-1	42
	9	Swansea City	28	11	7	10	33	37	-4	40
	10	West Ham United	28	10	9	9	39	34	5	39
	11	Newcastle United	28	9	8	11	32	43	-11	35
	12	Crystal Palace	28	7	9	12	31	39	-8	30
	13	West Bromwich Albion	28	7	9	12	26	36	-10	30
	14	Everton	28	6	10	12	33	41	-8	28
	15	Hull City	28	6	9	13	26	37	-11	27
	16	Sunderland	28	4	14	10	23	39	-16	26
	17	Aston Villa	28	6	7	15	15	38	-23	25
	18	Queens Park Rangers	27	6	4	17	28	47	-19	22
	19	Burnley	28	4	10	14	25	47	-22	22
	20	Leicester City	27	4	6	17	24	44	-20	18

Matchday 29 Predictions

Date	Home	Prediction	Away
Saturday, March 7	QPR	1-2	Tottenham
Saturday, March 14	Crystal Palace	1-1	QPR
Saturday, March 14	Arsenal	1-0	West Ham
Saturday, March 14	Leicester City	0-0	Hull City
Saturday, March 14	Sunderland	0-1	Aston Villa
Saturday, March 14	West Brom	1-1	Stoke City
Saturday, March 14	Burnley	0-3	Manchester City
Sunday, March 15	Chelsea	2-1	Southampton
Sunday, March 15	Everton	1-1	Newcastle
Sunday, March 15	Manchester United	1-0	Tottenham
Monday, March 16	Swansea City	2-3	Liverpool

Preview

Alastair Grant/Associated Press

Chelsea will be glad to have the break, as they open their round-of-16 clash in the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain next Wednesday. The week-and-a-half break from the Premier League will allow them to both rest up and really prepare for PSG, a needed respite for the team after a Capital One Cup triumph over the weekend and a hard-fought win over West Ham on Wednesday evening.

The respite won't last long, however—up next will be a tough Southampton squad on an exciting Sunday of action that will also include Newcastle taking on struggling Everton and Manchester United facing Tottenham in a matchup with clear implications in the race for a top-four finish.

United facing Spurs is undoubtedly the game of the week, and the Red Devils could probably use a break before the key match after squeaking past Newcastle Wednesday on a fortuitous goal after the Magpies gave the ball away to Ashley Young in the box in the 89th minute and Young buried the chance.

Of course, Louis van Gaal looked on the bright side after the contest, per Manchester United's Twitter feed:

We have to talk about the two hottest teams in the league, as well: Liverpool and Arsenal. No teams in the Premier League have been better than that pair this year, per Squawka Football:

How about Stoke City sneaking onto that list? And how about Liverpool not yet losing in the Premier League this year?

One of the major reasons for Liverpool's recent hot streak has been the play of midfielder Jordan Henderson, who has been superb for the Reds, especially in the wake of Steven Gerrard's absence due to injury. So good has he been that the brilliantly entertaining Men in Blazers were even singing his praises, albeit in their own clever way:

It's certainly been quite the resurgence for manager Brendan Rodgers and Henderson. 

Arsenal, meanwhile, have a tough contest against West Ham, though this is generally the point of the year when the Gunners play their best football.

Indeed, the club's supporters have to be excited after seeing Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil—the two big signings from the past two seasons—play exceedingly well against Queens Park Rangers. 

If Ozil is pulling the strings, Sanchez is pressing the issue against opposing defenders, Olivier Giroud is actually finishing his chances, Arsene Wenger continues to find a role for Santi Cazorla and the defense doesn't implode, the Gunners will be very hard to move out of the top four. 

Yup, it's just that "easy" for Arsenal.

Julian Finney/Getty Images

And then there is Manchester City, which find themselves continuously held at arm's length in the title race by Chelsea. The Citizens are five points back of table-leading Chelsea, and the Blues have a game in hand. Even worse, City just haven't resembled the team that won the table last year, nor have they looked capable of catching the Blues this time around. 

They are loaded with talent, of course, and anything can happen in the Premier League. But with each passing week, it looks more and more like a foregone conclusion that Chelsea will be the champions this year.