This article is part of our Setting the Table series.
Looking BackCrystal Palace finally broke their scoreless streak by grabbing a goal against Spurs last weekend. Unfortunately, it came on an own goal, which means the last player to score for the Eagles remains Lee Chung-Yong, who bagged Palace's second in their 2-1 win over Stoke City back on Dec. 19 (Connor Wickham scored a penalty earlier in the match).
Desperate for goals, manager Alan Pardew brought in Emmanuel Adebayor, who was unemployed since Spurs let him go back in September. With Wickham banned for three matches due to violent conduct, Adebayor could be thrust right into the starting XI.
The highlight match of last weekend was Liverpool's incredible 5-4 win over Norwich City at Carrow Road that included two stoppage-time goals. However, to prove the recent struggles of both teams, they still have a negative goal differential in their last four games.
Manchester City remain at the top of the goal differential form table after their 2-2 draw with West Ham (braces by Sergio Aguero and Enner Valencia), but they've got a massive void to fill after Kevin De Bruyne was ruled out for up to 10 weeks after suffering knee and ankle injuries during their midweek Capital One Cup match against Everton.
| Rank (Prev) | Club | Next Opp | Goal Diff. | Scored | Allowed | Clean Sheets (Win) | Week 23 | Week 22 | Week 21 | Week 20 |
| 1 (1) | Man City | at SUN | +5 | 8 | 3 | 2 (1) | 2-2 | 4-0 | 0-0 | 1-2 |
| 2 (6) | Southampton | at ARS | +5 | 6 | 1 | 3 (3) | 0-1 | 3-0 | 2-0 | 1-0 |
| 3 (3) | Chelsea | at WAT | +4 | 9 | 5 | 2 (2) | 0-1 | 3-3 | 2-2 | 0-3 |
| 4 (5) | Tottenham | at NOR | +4 | 8 | 4 | 0 (0) | 1-3 | 4-1 | 0-1 | 1-1 |
| 5 (10) | Leicester | v. LIV | +4 | 5 | 1 | 3 (2) | 3-0 | 1-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 |
| 6 (2) | West Ham | v. AVL | +3 | 8 | 5 | 1 (1) | 2-2 | 2-1 | 1-3 | 2-0 |
| 7 (11) | Sunderland | v. MCI | +1 | 9 | 8 | 0 (0) | 1-1 | 4-1 | 2-4 | 3-1 |
| 8 (8) | Man Utd | v. STK | +1 | 6 | 5 | 1 (1) | 0-1 | 0-1 | 3-3 | 2-1 |
| 9 (9) | Bournemouth | at CRY | +1 | 5 | 4 | 2 (1) | 1-1 | 3-0 | 1-3 | 0-0 |
| 10 (7) | Arsenal | v. SOU | - | 4 | 4 | 2 (1) | 0-1 | 0-0 | 3-3 | 1-0 |
| 11 (13) | Newcastle | at EVE | -1 | 6 | 7 | 0 (0) | 2-1 | 2-1 | 3-3 | 1-0 |
| 12 (12) | Everton | v. NEW | -1 | 5 | 6 | 1 (0) | 1-2 | 3-3 | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| 13 (18) | Aston Villa | at WHU | -1 | 3 | 4 | 2 (1) | 0-0 | 1-1 | 1-0 | 3-1 |
| 14 (16) | Liverpool | at LEI | -2 | 8 | 10 | 0 (0) | 4-5 | 0-1 | 3-3 | 2-0 |
| 15 (15) | Swansea | at WBA | -2 | 6 | 8 | 1 (1) | 1-2 | 1-0 | 2-4 | 2-1 |
| 16 (14) | West Brom | v. SWA | -2 | 4 | 6 | 1 (0) | 0-0 | 3-0 | 2-2 | 2-1 |
| 17 (4) | Stoke | at MUN | -2 | 4 | 6 | 1 (0) | 3-0 | 0-0 | 3-1 | 2-1 |
| 18 (19) | Watford | v. CHE | -3 | 3 | 6 | 0 (0) | 2-1 | 1-0 | 2-0 | 1-2 |
| 19 (17) | Norwich | v. TOT | -5 | 6 | 11 | 1 (1) | 4-5 | 3-0 | 3-1 | 1-0 |
| 20 (20) | Crystal Palace | v. BOU | -10 | 1 | 11 | 0 (0) | 1-3 | 4-0 | 1-0 | 0-3 |
Looking Ahead
If there is one way to ease the pain of losing one of your best attacking options, it's playing against Sunderland, who have allowed seven goals in their last three matches. Despite the absence of De Bruyne, Manchester City are the top favorites in Gameweek 24, even on the road:
| Home | Win Chances | Clean Sheet Chances | Away | Win Chances | Clean Sheet Chances | Draw Chances |
| Arsenal | 0.55 | 0.41 | Southampton | 0.20 | 0.18 | 0.26 |
| Leicester | 0.38 | 0.30 | Liverpool | 0.34 | 0.27 | 0.29 |
| Norwich | 0.24 | 0.20 | Tottenham | 0.49 | 0.38 | 0.27 |
| Sunderland | 0.14 | 0.13 | Manchester City | 0.65 | 0.42 | 0.21 |
| West Ham | 0.51 | 0.41 | Aston Villa | 0.21 | 0.23 | 0.28 |
| Crystal Palace | 0.43 | 0.34 | Bournemouth | 0.28 | 0.26 | 0.29 |
| Manchester United | 0.54 | 0.45 | Stoke City | 0.19 | 0.21 | 0.27 |
| West Brom | 0.36 | 0.35 | Swansea City | 0.32 | 0.32 | 0.31 |
| Everton | 0.56 | 0.37 | Newcastle | 0.19 | 0.15 | 0.25 |
| Watford | 0.24 | 0.24 | Chelsea | 0.49 | 0.39 | 0.28 |
And finally, for a look into which teams have the best (and worst) chances of scoring multiple times this week, here are the numbers for each team scoring over or under 1.5 goals:
| Home | Over 1.5 Goals | Under 1.5 Goals | Away | Over 1.5 Goals | Under 1.5 Goals |
| Everton | 0.58 | 0.42 | Newcastle | 0.28 | 0.72 |
| Arsenal | 0.49 | 0.51 | Southampton | 0.25 | 0.75 |
| Man Utd | 0.46 | 0.54 | Stoke | 0.21 | 0.79 |
| West Ham | 0.44 | 0.56 | Aston Villa | 0.23 | 0.77 |
| Crystal Palace | 0.39 | 0.61 | Bournemouth | 0.29 | 0.71 |
| Leicester | 0.38 | 0.63 | Liverpool | 0.34 | 0.66 |
| West Brom | 0.31 | 0.69 | Swansea | 0.28 | 0.72 |
| Norwich | 0.27 | 0.73 | Tottenham | 0.49 | 0.51 |
| Watford | 0.25 | 0.75 | Chelsea | 0.42 | 0.58 |
| Sunderland | 0.23 | 0.77 | Man City | 0.59 | 0.41 |
Note: odds taken from Paddy Power and Bet365.com
