For the last three weeks Manchester City have been slowly chipping away at United’s lead, and their efforts have finally been rewarded as they have now reclaimed the APL’s top spot.

City’s big win over a previously unbeaten Aston Villa means that they have scored 7.25 more points than United in the last 3 weeks. Those who thought that Villa could frustrate City and come away with a hard earned point were wrong as City proved once again not only how dangerous they are going forward, but also how they can rotate their squad seamlessly. James Milner and Adam Johnson both proved that they merited a place in the starting line-up with a goal each and Mario Balotelli’s goal scoring run continued with his third goal in three games. City take 7.15 points from the game for their 3 goal winning margin while Villa stay just ahead of Norwich in 8th.

The relentless form of the big two means that the rest of the league are playing a constant game of catch-up. Chelsea closed the gap on those above them by seeing off Everton at Stamford Bridge. The Toffee’s lowly league position didn’t do Chelsea any favors as they only scooped 5.92 points for their efforts – a cause not helped by the conceding of a late goal. This is the sixth time this season that Chelsea have conceded a single goal in a game and they too could be challenging for top spot had they managed to keep a few more clean sheets.

Bolton clawed themselves off of the bottom of the league by securing an impressive away win at fellow bottom three side Wigan. Chris Eagles’ late goal gave Bolton a boost of 0.59 points and pulled them further away from the teams below them. Wigan now occupy the bottom spot after Blackburn leap-frogged them with their 1-1 draw at QPR.

Norwich’s fine run of form continued as they recorded their third win in four games with a 3-1 over fellow new boys Swansea. Their score of 6.41 was one of the highest of the weekend – beaten only by Man City, Stoke and Bolton. The Canaries now sit only 0.47 points behind Aston Villa in 8th and have opened up a small gap over QPR below them.

  Team P W D L GD Points Prem Pos
1 Manchester City 8 7 1 0 21 53.17 1
2 Manchester United 8 6 2 0 19 51.01 2
3 Chelsea 8 6 1 1 7 43.76 3
4 Newcastle United 8 4 4 0 5 39.75 4
5 Liverpool 8 4 2 2 2 36.93 5
6 Tottenham Hotspur 7 4 1 2 1 35.83 6
7 Stoke City 8 3 3 2 -2 33.14 7
8 Aston Villa 8 2 5 1 1 31.83 8
9 Norwich City 8 3 2 3 -2 31.36 9
10 Queens Park Rangers 8 2 3 3 -8 28.73 11
11 Fulham 8 1 4 3 1 28.51 14
12 West Bromwich Albion 8 2 2 4 -3 27.32 12
13 Arsenal 8 3 1 4 -5 27.21 10
14 Swansea City 8 2 2 4 -5 26.84 13
15 Sunderland 8 1 3 4 0 25.16 17
16 Wolverhampton Wanderers 8 2 1 5 -6 23.87 16
17 Everton 7 2 1 4 -4 23.71 15
18 Bolton Wanderers 8 2 0 6 -10 23.58 18
19 Blackburn Rovers 8 1 2 5 -9 20.70 20
20 Wigan Athletic 8 1 2 5 -8 20.53 19

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