Chelsea continued their march towards the Premier League title this weekend after beating Stoke City 2-1 at the bet365 Stadium.

Antonio Conte’s men secured a hard-fought three points thanks to goals from Willian and Gary Cahill, with the latter atoning for his earlier foul on Jon Walters which led to the Irishman equalising from the penalty spot.

Tottenham remain the Blues’ nearest challengers after recording a tenth straight home league win with victory over Southampton on Sunday, with goals from Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen secured Mauricio Pochettino’s men a 17th win of the campaign.

Manchester City and Liverpool remain third and fourth respectively after playing out a highly entertaining 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, which means that Jurgen Klopp’s Reds are only four points clear of Manchester United in fifth after the Red Devils beat Middlesbrough earlier in the day.

Jose Mourinho’s men replace Arsenal in fifth after the Gunners went down 3-1 at West Brom on Saturday, further questioning Arsene Wenger’s future at the club, and they are now level on points with Everton after Ronald Koeman’s men thrashed relegation-threatened Hull 4-0 at Goodison Park.

At the bottom, Sunderland were unable to get the better of Burnley at the Stadium of Light, while Crystal Palace moved up to 16th after securing a third straight victory at the expense of Watford on Saturday.

Champions Leicester continued their resurgence with a 3-2 win at West Ham, while Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth sealed back-to-back victories for the first time this season after seeing off Swansea 2-0 at the Vitality Stadium.

So, in what was a frantic and enthralling weekend of Premier League football, here is What’s Hot and What’s Not from the last few days in England’s top-flight…

HOT – Champions-elect Chelsea

It was 1-1 between Stoke and leaders Chelsea at the bet365 Stadium with just a few minutes to go, and it was a result that looked set to give Tottenham a boost in their quest to reel in the Blues.

Yet the champions-elect found a way to win late on, with Gary Cahill atoning for his foul on Jon Walters in the first half to send Antonio Conte’s men 13 points clear at the top.

Many in the wider footballing community would have looked at Stoke away as a potential banana-skin for the Blues, yet they have dodged a big bullet, and will surely go on and win the Premier League title this term.

NOT – Arsenal

Another week, another defeat, another case of the same old story for Arsenal.

Arsene Wenger’s men were comfortably beaten 3-1 by eighth place West Brom on Saturday, but everything that went on during the game, especially the Baggies goals, were all too familiar for Gunners fans.

Craig Dawson netted from two set pieces, both of the time unmarked, while Hal Robson-Kanu pounced on some sloppy goalkeeping from David Ospina to net West Brom’s second.

It was same old, same old – Arsenal and Wenger would have known of West Brom’s excellent set piece record, yet defended them abjectly, and apart from Alexis Sanchez, none of their front players showed any sort of dynamism and forcefulness when in possession.

There are obviously huge question marks over Wenger’s future, and there should be of several Arsenal players as well – it was a shambolic performance at the end of another tough week for the Gunners.

HOT – Crystal Palace

It wasn’t that long ago that Crystal Palace were thumped 4-0 at home by Sunderland, and questions were asked whether Sam Allardyce still had it in him to produce another relegation escape.

Fast forward six weeks, and the Eagles are soaring.

Allardyce’s men grabbed their third successive victory at the weekend by seeing off Watford 1-0 at Selhurst Park, following on from their 2-0 win at West Brom last time out, and their 1-0 success over Middlesbrough a few weeks back.

They are suddenly looking like a Big Sam team, with three clean sheets and just four goals scored, and their fine run means that they are out of the bottom three and four points clear of danger.

It didn’t look like happening for Allardyce last month, but March has been excellent for the former England manager, who is well on his way to protecting his record of never having been relegated in his career.

NOT – David Moyes and Sunderland

Bottom of the table, home to a side that have picked up just two points on the road all season, Sunderland really had to beat Burnley on Saturday.

But they didn’t, and it looks like they will not perform another miraculous escape under manager David Moyes this time round.

The Black Cats are now seven points adrift of safety, and with just one win in their last 11, it looks too big a gap to overcome.

Sunderland have been hanging on for years – you sensed relegation was going to happen eventually – and it looks like this term is just one season too far for the North East outfit.