Liverpool increase lead at the top
Liverpool increased its lead on Chelsea to three points after beating Newcastle and Chelsea could only draw against Fulham in round 20 of the English Premiership.
It was Chelsea's second successive away draw after drawing Everton in the last away match and the four points lost could prove crucial in May.
Manchester United's win over Middlesborough means the Old Trafford outfit maintained their third place but they have two games in hand against Wigan and Fulham.
Aston Villa's win over Hull City kept them in fourth place and Hull are beginning to slip having been third at one stage in the season. Hull now lie eighth.
There were no changes in the bottom three but West Bromwich Albion is now tied with Blackburn Rovers on 18 points and are last on goal difference.
Its interesting to see that the bottom ten sides are separated by just five points.
After looking at the away ladder after round 18, this time we take a look at the home ladder.
Below is the home ladder - showing only the home matches so far this season:
| Team | Win | Draw | Lost | Goal Diff | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Man Utd | 7 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 22 |
| Liverpool | 6 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 22 |
| Fulham | 6 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 21 |
| Arsenal | 6 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 20 |
| Aston Villa | 4 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 17 |
| Stoke | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 17 |
| Wigan | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 17 |
| Chelsea | 4 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 16 |
| Man City | 5 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 15 |
| Newcastle | 4 | 3 | 3 | -1 | 15 |
| Portsmouth | 4 | 2 | 4 | -3 | 14 |
| West Brom | 4 | 2 | 4 | -3 | 14 |
| West Ham | 4 | 1 | 5 | -2 | 13 |
| Tottenham | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 12 |
| Middlesbrough | 3 | 3 | 4 | -5 | 12 |
| Sunderland | 3 | 2 | 5 | -2 | 11 |
| Bolton | 3 | 2 | 5 | -3 | 11 |
| Hull | 3 | 2 | 5 | -10 | 11 |
| Everton | 2 | 4 | 4 | -3 | 10 |
| Blackburn | 2 | 3 | 5 | -7 | 9 |
So at the moment Manchester United has the best home record but are top over Liverpool on goal difference.
Also Man Utd have two home matches in hand and I think the most telling statistic is that there has been just one draw at Old Trafford compared to four at Anfiled.
Fulham have an impressive home record with the same number of wins as Liverpool and Arsenal. Only if Fulham could translate that home form to away matches.
On the other end of the table, Blackburn have the worst home record having picked just nine points at home and a few more wins at home could see them climb the ladder.
delicious | 
diggI think that this time Liverpool have got a genuine chance to win the league. Its a good sign that Torres is now back and whilst he was off injured Liverpool still won and maintained top position on the table.
Cannot see Chelsea doing much this season and ManU will probably settle for second and they should be happy with that.
reply
Derek, I think its good for Liverpool is better off at the front than be in the chasing pack but I still think there is still some way to go. I think they need a bigger gap than three points at this point to be sure but I wouldn't be surprised to see them win the title.
reply
