Chelsea strengthened their grip on the Premier League title race after a commanding 3-1 victory over Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Goals from Marcos Alonso, Eden Hazard, and Cesc Fabregas secured a 19th win of the campaign for Antonio Conte’s men, with Olivier Giroud’s late header the only blot on an otherwise sensational afternoon for the Blues.

They remain nine points clear at the top after Tottenham narrowly beat Middlesbrough 1-0 at White Hart Lane,  with Harry Kane netting the winner, while Manchester City moved up to third courtesy of a 2-1 win over relegation-threatened Swansea at the Etihad Stadium.

Pep Guardiola’s side leapfrogged both Arsenal and Liverpool, as the latter suffered a second defeat in three game by going down 2-0 at Hull, which leaves the Tigers just a point adrift of safety after back-to-back home league victories.

Elsewhere, Manchester United moved to within two points of the top four after comfortably beating champions Leicester 3-0, with the Foxes now just a point clear of danger, while Everton remain in seventh after a thrilling 6-3 victory over Bournemouth at Goodison Park.

West Brom stay eighth after beating Stoke 1-0 at the Hawthorns, West Ham move up to ninth after seeing off Southampton 3-1 at St Mary’s, and Watford round off the top ten after they got past Burnley 2-1 at Vicarage Road.

At the bottom, Sunderland produced a sensational performance to thump Crystal Palace 4-0 at Selhurst Park, a result which keeps David Moyes’ side bottom, but moves them to within two points of safety after a fifth win of the season.

So, in what was an exciting weekend of football in England’s top-flight, here is What’s Hot and What’s Not from the past few days of Premier League action…

HOT – Eden Hazard and Chelsea

Chelsea produced a fine performance to comfortably beat Arsenal 3-1 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, with a stunning solo goal from Eden Hazard the highlight of the afternoon.

The Blues were 1-0 up when the Belgian latched onto Diego Costa’s flick-on on the halfway line, before setting about powering towards the Gunners goal.

He easily, probably too easily, shrugged off Francis Coquelin before reaching the penalty box, where he then turned Laurent Koscielny and Skhodran Mustafi inside out before slotting home over Petr Cech.

Many will argue that Arsenal could and perhaps should have done better defensively, but nothing should be taken away from Hazard, with that moment of brilliance all but sealing the points for Conte’s men.

NOT – Arsenal

Wenger’s side started reasonably well at Stamford Bridge, but as soon as the first goal went in, it was a case of ‘same old Arsenal’ for the rest of the contest.

The Gunners didn’t deal with Chelsea’s counter-attacking threat at all during the encounter, and but for a few stray passes at crucial moments, the Blues could have been out of sight by half-time.

The likes of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez were anonymous, and although they were hampered in the midfield due to various injuries and suspensions, they were totally dominated in that area to further highlight how far behind the leaders they are.

Although they may be getting closer to top spot based on their recent league finishes, it actually feels like they are getting further away from winning the Premier League after another sloppy display against a title rival.

HOT – Hull and Sunderland

Gabriel Jesus and Andy Carroll both deserve mentions, yet it’s difficult to look past the importance of the victories for Hull and Sunderland their quests to avoid relegation from the Premier League.

Marco Silva seems to have reinvigorated the Tigers since his arrival at the start of January, and they produced arguably their best performance to date to see off Liverpool 2-0 at the KCOM Stadium to move themselves within a point of safety.

Even more impressive was Sunderland’s display at Selhurst Park though, as David Moyes’ men stunned Crystal Palace 4-0 to record their first league win of 2017.

A brace from Jermain Defoe as well as goals from Lamine Kone and Didier Ndong secured a fifth league win of the campaign for the Black Cats who, although remain bottom, are now just two points adrift of safety.

It was a massive weekend for these two sides, who would have given themselves ample belief that they can avoid the drop come May after excellent wins.

NOT – Liverpool

One win in 2017, and no victory in five in the league – it’s all unravelling for Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool at present.

The Reds succumbed to a surprise 2-0 defeat at Hull on Saturday to slip to fifth in the league, and now just a point ahead of Manchester United in sixth.

Klopp’s men were blunt in attack and did little to seriously threaten Elden Jakupovic in the Tigers goal, and they weren’t much better at the back, with Simon Mignolet at fault for the opener, and the backline easily beaten by one long ball for the second.

They’ve been knocked out of both cup competitions, have seen their title ambitions wrecked, and now they have a battle to finish in the top four – 2017 has not been kind to Liverpool so far.