LONDON (Sporting Alert) — Manchester United went back to seven points clear at the top of the English Premier League standings, following the narrow win over Southampton Wednesday night.
English Premier League Points Standings
| Clubs | P | W | D | L | FA | Pts |
| 1. | Manchester United | 24 | 19 | 2 | 3 | 59-31 | 59 |
| 2. | Manchester City | 24 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 45-19 | 52 |
| 3. | Chelsea | 24 | 13 | 7 | 4 | 49-24 | 46 |
| 4. | Tottenham | 24 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 41-29 | 42 |
| 5. | Everton | 24 | 10 | 11 | 3 | 37-27 | 41 |
| 6. | Arsenal | 24 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 48-29 | 38 |
| 7. | Liverpool | 24 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 42-30 | 35 |
| 8. | Swansea | 24 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 34-27 | 34 |
| 9. | West Brom | 24 | 10 | 4 | 10 | 34-34 | 34 |
| 10. | Stoke City | 24 | 6 | 12 | 6 | 24-29 | 30 |
| 11. | Sunderland | 24 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 27-31 | 29 |
| 12. | Fulham | 24 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 36-41 | 28 |
| 13. | West Ham | 24 | 7 | 6 | 11 | 27-36 | 27 |
| 14. | Norwich | 24 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 25-40 | 27 |
| 15. | Newcastle | 24 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 30-42 | 24 |
| 16. | Southampton | 24 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 31-42 | 23 |
| 17. | Reading | 24 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 30-45 | 20 |
| 18. | Wigan | 24 | 5 | 5 | 14 | 27-45 | 20 |
| 19. | Aston Villa | 24 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 20-46 | 20 |
| 20. | QPR | 24 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 18-37 | 16 |
Sir Alex Ferguson’s side is on 59 points after 24 games and has won 19 of those, losing three and drawing two. The strike force of Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez, has helped the Red Devils to score 59 goals so far in the league this season – 10 more than the next highest scorers, Chelsea.
Meanwhile, defending English Premier League champions Manchester City, who missed the chance to cut United’s lead to two points after they were held by QPR, are second in the table standings with 52 points, with Chelsea, 46, Tottenham, 42 and Everton, 41, rounding out the top five teams.
Completing the top ten are Arsenal (38) in sixth, Liverpool (35), Swansea City (34), West Brom (34) and Stoke City (30).
Aston Villa fell into the bottom three after its 2-1 defeat to Newcastle and they joined QPR, who are in 20th with 16 points and Wigan, who are 18th on 20 points.
