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 Three different leaders on three different days encapsulate the battle for the 2013-2014 English Premier League title is right now. The top three teams all took turns to head the standings in week 18, beginning with Chelsea, who beat Hull 2-0 on Saturday. Manchester City then overcame Newcastle 2-0 on Sunday to take over in first place. The week concluded on Monday with Arsenal returning to the top of the standings after a 2-1 victory away to Aston Villa. There was change at the other end of the table, too. After an unbroken run of over a month propping up the table, Sunderland climbed off the bottom of the standings after thrashing Fulham 4-1. Crystal Palace replaces Sunderland as the cellar dwellers following a 2-0 defeat at Tottenham. Cardiff fell into the bottom three while West Ham moved above the danger zone after the latter triumphed over the former 2-0. Elsewhere, there were wins for Everton, Southampton, Manchester United and Liverpool. The Premier League Pickem game has been updated through week 18. Patrick Cooley topped the week 18 standings with a stunning 42 points, giving him the highest average score for a week winner this season. In a bumper week for scoring, George Brady was only one point off the pace in second and third-placed Andrew Maher also hit the 40-point mark. The week's average score per pick made was a season-leading 3.213 points and thirteen players in total broke the 30-point barrier. Two fixtures in week 18 yielded at least 2 points on average. Arsenal's win against Aston Villa gave up 2.32 points on average, while Tottenham's victory over Crystal Palace was just behind with a 2.11 point average. Just two games fell short of a 1-point average, with West Ham's win at Cardiff yielding a mere 0.27 point average and Sunderland's triumph away to Fulham finishing with a 0.50 point average. Anders Nilsson is slowly edging away from the pack in the overall standings. The long-time leader has amassed 542 points with week 18 in the books, with Joe Hiegel's 527 points leaving him in second place. Jay Soester is six points further adrift in third position, with Tom Vobejda and Jeffery Murowsky rounding off the top-5. Here we review Week 18 of the English Premier League. Chelsea at Hull City The home side began with intent and Ahmed Elmohamady made sure Petr Cech was alert in the opening ten minutes with a long-range shot. Jake Livermore also tested the keeper, but Yannick Sagbo missed the target when presented with a great opportunity. Chelsea had first half chances, too, with Allan McGregor pulling off a great save from Oscar and he denied David Luiz on the stroke of half-time. The opener came in the second half, with Eden Hazard collecting the ball and shooting from the edge of the box. The visitors pressed for a second goal but they were frustrated until the closing minutes when Fernando Torres finally put the game to rest and lifted his team to the top of the standings.
West Ham United at Cardiff City West Ham nearly took the lead in the opening five minutes of the match when Stewart Downing's intended cross hit the far post and David Marshall had to save James Tomkins' follow up. With half an hour gone, the hosts came within a whisker of going ahead as Kim Bo-Kyung's deflected shot hit the underside of the bar and bounced on the goalline. The visitors went a goal up just before the interval, though, with Carlton Cole converting Matt Jarvis's cross. Things became more frenetic after the break, with Cardiff thinking they should have had at least one penalty and Frazier Campbell nearly equalized. Tomkins was sent off for West Ham, but Mark Noble secured the points in stoppage time.
Norwich City at Everton Everton dominated proceedings from the kickoff and Romelu Lukaku might have put the hosts in front in the first five minutes but his header went wide. It was almost exclusively one-way traffic and Everton finally got on the board midway through the opening half. Lukaku laid the ball off for Gareth Barry, who unleashed an unstoppable shot from distance. Seamus Coleman went close to increasing Everton's lead, but it remained 1-0 until half-time. There was a similar tone after the break, with the Toffees looking for their second goal. It came just before the hour mark, thanks to Kevin Mirallas. Ricky van Wolfswinkel came close to scoring a consolation goal, but Everton ran out easy winners.
Sunderland at Fulham Fulham began showing intent, but they couldn't break the deadlock. Dimitar Berbatov directed a close-range header straight at the keeper, while Adel Taarabt saw his powerful strike deflected over the bar. The hosts would rue their missed opportunities when Sunderland took the lead, courtesy of an Adam Johnson freekick. Just before the break, Johnson became provider as he teed-up Ki Sung-Yeung from a well-worked corner. Fulham got back into the match early in the second half with Steve Sidwell heading in from close range. Sunderland's two-goal cushion was restored by Johnson and the Black Cats' winger completed his hat-trick and secured the points late on from the penalty spot.
West Bromwich Albion at Southampton Southampton had the vast majority of the ball in the opening stages of this contest but they struggled to break down West Brom's defense. Adam Lallana had an early effort saved but, just like shots from Steven Davis and Jack Cork, it was from distance. The visitors were constantly on the back foot and only offered one shot in the first half. The hosts were being frustrated by the stubborn and well-organized West Brom defense but they finally broke through in the second half. Gastón Ramírez hit a lofted first-time pass to Lallana, who drove the ball home past the keeper. West Brom searched for the equalizer and Shane Long came close in the dying minutes, but the Saints held on for victory.
Crystal Palace at Tottenham Hotspur The visitors began in a positive fashion and they were rewarded with a penalty after Mousa Dembélé brought down Marouane Chamakh. However, Jason Puncheon stepped up to take the kick and sent the ball high and wide into the crowd. Palace continued to create openings, though, and Hugo Lloris was busy throughout the first half. Spurs were unlucky not to score, however, when Nalib Bentaleb's curling effort struck the upright. Tottenham began to dominate and they finally broke the deadlock just after the break through Christian Eriksen. They then went two goals up with Jermaine Defoe slipping the ball under the keeper. Palace finished strongly, but Spurs did enough to take the spoils.
Swansea City at Manchester United Manchester United went into this encounter looking to reverse the result of the FA Cup meeting between these two teams the previous weekend and they put pressure on Swansea in the early stages. Adnan Januzaj looked dangerous and he rattled the bar with a freekick. Manchester United spurned numerous chances, with Danny Welbeck guilty of missing the best chance of the first half. United took the lead soon after the break, though, when the loose ball from Shinji Kagawa's effort was turned in by Antonio Valencia. Just before the hour mark the hosts went two up, thanks to an instinctive flick by Welbeck. Further chances came the hosts' way, but they'll settle for the three points on offer.
Manchester City at Newcastle United Newcastle looked settled early on but that quickly changed when some incisive passing led to the visitors taking the lead with Edin Dzeko slotting the ball home. The hosts were rattled and City had chances to increase the advantage. The Magpies regrouped, though, and began to trouble City, with Yohan Cabaye testing Joe Hart. Cheick Tioté then thundered the ball into the back of the net but the referee controversially ruled out the potential equalizer for an offside infringement. Newcastle was visibly incensed by the decision and they began to get on top. Loïc Remy went close in the second half but City finally finished the game off, with Álvaro Negredo scoring from a late counterattack.
Liverpool at Stoke City The day didn't begin well for Stoke with Ryan Shawcross unluckily deflecting Aly Cissokho's driven strike into his own net. The hosts further contributed to their downfall by dithering in defense, allowing Luis Suárez to double the lead. However, Stoke got a goal back from Peter Crouch and on the stroke of half-time it was all-square with Charlie Adam tying things up. Liverpool went back in front soon after the break, thanks to a Steven Gerrard penalty and substitute Daniel Sturridge quickly made an impact by setting up Suárez for his second. Stoke had a glimmer of hope when Jon Walters stabbed the ball past Simon Mignolet, but Liverpool wrapped things up when Sturridge kept his cool late on.
Arsenal at Aston Villa Arsenal dominated possession in the early stages but failed to capitalize initially. Olivier Giroud's glancing a header went close, but otherwise the Gunners were quiet in the attacking third. Aston Villa was forced into a reshuffle after Nathan Baker's injury and it nearly resulted in a goal but Karim El Ahmadi's shot just cleared the bar. Arsenal then hit the hosts with a double blow; Jack Wilshere finally broke the deadlock and Giroud made doubled the lead just 58 seconds later. Aston Villa upped their game after the break and they eventually pulled a goal back through Christian Benteke, who had been on a barren run. That made for a tense finale but Arsenal took the spoils to return to the top.
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