EPL Table: 2016 Standings After Saturday's Week 36 Results and Top Scorers
Newcastle United took a big step toward Premier League safety on Saturday after beating Crystal Palace 1-0 at St. James' Park to move out of the relegation zone.
Andros Townsend scored the only goal of the game with a wonderful free-kick into the top corner around the hour mark as former Newcastle midfielder Yohan Cabaye saw his penalty kick saved by Karl Darlow with 20 minutes to play.
Fellow relegation battlers and north-east rivals Sunderland snatched a crucial point in their clash with Stoke City at the Britannia, as Jermain Defoe scored his 14th goal of the season in second-half stoppage time.
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The former England international scored with a spot-kick from 12 yards, keeping Sunderland in touching distance with their neighbours. The Black Cats are now one point behind Newcastle on 32 points but have a game still to play as the season draws ever closer to its climax.
Norwich City, meanwhile, were beaten 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium by Arsenal to drop to 19th in the rankings after Danny Welbeck's second-half strike. The Canaries still hold a match advantage over Rafael Benitez's Newcastle but have lost ground following this weekend's results.
Read on for a roundup of Saturday's scores, the latest Premier League standings and an updated look at the English top flight's leading scorers.
| 1 | Leicester City | 35 | 22 | 10 | 3 | 63 | 33 | 30 | 76 |
| 2 | Tottenham Hotspur | 35 | 19 | 12 | 4 | 65 | 26 | 39 | 69 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 36 | 19 | 10 | 7 | 59 | 34 | 25 | 67 |
| 4 | Manchester City | 35 | 19 | 7 | 9 | 66 | 34 | 32 | 64 |
| 5 | West Ham United | 35 | 15 | 14 | 6 | 60 | 43 | 17 | 59 |
| 6 | Manchester United | 34 | 17 | 8 | 9 | 42 | 30 | 12 | 59 |
| 7 | Liverpool | 34 | 15 | 10 | 9 | 58 | 45 | 13 | 55 |
| 8 | Southampton | 35 | 15 | 9 | 11 | 49 | 37 | 12 | 54 |
| 9 | Stoke City | 36 | 13 | 9 | 14 | 38 | 52 | -14 | 48 |
| 10 | Chelsea | 34 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 53 | 46 | 7 | 47 |
| 11 | Everton | 35 | 10 | 14 | 11 | 55 | 49 | 6 | 44 |
| 12 | Watford | 35 | 12 | 8 | 15 | 36 | 42 | -6 | 44 |
| 13 | West Bromwich Albion | 36 | 10 | 11 | 15 | 32 | 46 | -14 | 41 |
| 14 | Bournemouth | 36 | 11 | 8 | 17 | 43 | 63 | -20 | 41 |
| 15 | Swansea City | 35 | 10 | 10 | 15 | 34 | 49 | -15 | 40 |
| 16 | Crystal Palace | 36 | 10 | 9 | 17 | 36 | 46 | -10 | 39 |
| 17 | Newcastle United | 36 | 8 | 9 | 19 | 39 | 64 | -25 | 33 |
| 18 | Sunderland | 35 | 7 | 11 | 17 | 40 | 58 | -18 | 32 |
| 19 | Norwich City | 35 | 8 | 7 | 20 | 35 | 61 | -26 | 31 |
| 20 | Aston Villa | 36 | 3 | 7 | 26 | 27 | 72 | -45 | 16 |
| 1 | Harry Kane | Tottenham Hotspur | 24 |
| 2 | Sergio Aguero | Manchester City | 23 |
| 2 | Jamie Vardy | Leicester City | 22 |
| 3 | Romelu Lukaku | Everton | 18 |
| 5 | Riyad Mahrez | Leicester City | 17 |
| 6 | Odion Ighalo | Watford | 14 |
| 7 | Jermain Defoe | Sunderland | 14 |
| 8 | Alexis Sanchez | Arsenal | 12 |
| 9 | Olivier Giroud | Arsenal | 12 |
| 10 | Diego Costa | Chelsea | 11 |
| Everton | 2-1 | AFC Bournemouth |
| Newcastle United | 1-0 | Crystal Palace |
| Stoke City | 1-1 | Sunderland |
| Watford | 3-2 | Aston Villa |
| West Bromwich Albion | 0-3 | West Ham United |
| Arsenal | 1-0 | Norwich City |
Kane Hunting Down Golden Boot
There was little change in the Premier League top scorers chart on Saturday, with just one of the top five highest-scoring players in England's top flight in action.
Romelu Lukaku, fourth in the standings with 18 league goals to his name this term, came on for the final 30 minutes of the Goodison Park encounter against Bournemouth but failed to add to his haul in his cameo appearance for the Toffees.
With games running out for clubs at either end of the table, it is Tottenham's Harry Kane who stands at the top of the list of the league's most prolific attackers.
He is refusing to give up in the race for the league title despite trailing the leaders by seven points with three games to play:
The England international has scored an impressive 24 league goals this season to become the first Spurs striker to score above 20 goals in successive seasons in over 44 years, since Martin Chivers achieved that milestone in 1972, per John Dillon of the Sun.
The 22-year-old is also on course to become the first Englishman to win the Golden Boot since Sunderland's Kevin Phillips netted 30 times in the 1999-2000 campaign.
Opta proved just how well Kane has performed away from north London this year:
Meanwhile, WhoScored.com confirmed the standings at the top of the scorers list:
The Spurs front man will be able to add to his haul of strikes when Mauricio Pochettino's men entertain last year's champions Chelsea at White Hart Lane on Monday.
By that stage, league leaders Leicester may have already sealed a historic title success, with the Foxes needing just one more win to secure their place in history.
Claudio Ranieri's men face Manchester United on Sunday afternoon knowing that a positive result at Old Trafford would be enough for them to be crowned champions.
However, they will have to do so without star strike Jamie Vardy, with the England international serving the second match ban of his improper misconduct charge.
SuperSportTV broke down the statistics to detail how important Vardy and PFA Player of the Year Riyad Mahrez have been to their team this year:
The former Fleetwood Town striker reacted poorly to referee Jon Moss showing him a second yellow card in Leicester's 2-2 draw at home to West Ham earlier this month and was issued an extended suspension.
Vardy is two behind possible Euro 2016 strike partner Kane in the scoring stakes on 22 goals but will have to watch on from the sidelines if Leicester seal the title.
Kane's closest challenger, Sergio Aguero, is just one goal adrift and currently enjoying a purple patch in front of goal with the season drawing to a close.
The Argentina international has scored in each of his last five Premier League matches, netting seven goals in the process, per Soccerway.
The Premier League's official account sets up Aguero with a challenge to continue his fine run of form:
Despite their impending away encounter with Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League, Manuel Pellegrini's City will be looking to boost their chances of securing a third-place domestic finish when they play Southampton on Sunday.
City travel to the south coast to take on Ronald Koeman's side currently on a good run of form themselves, having lost just one of their last seven matches.
Aguero will be hoping to add to his impressive goal tally at St. Mary's Stadium. It is interesting to note that the former Atletico Madrid attacker has managed to keep in contact with Kane in the scoring charts despite playing 800 minutes fewer than the Spurs favourite, per WhoScored.com.
