City 23-10 to keep title after joining Blues at top

By By Alex Hilton 9:01PM 20 DEC 2014

MANCHESTER CITY moved level with Chelsea at the top of the Premier League on Saturday after beating Crystal Palace 3-0 at the Etihad to record their eighth win in a row in all competitions.

David Silva scored twice and Yaya Toure grabbed the third as City broke down a stubborn Palace side with three second-half goals, and they are 23-10 for the title. Favourites Chelsea are 1-2.

A fourth goal would have put the champions top on goals scored having been nine points adrift of the Blues just six games ago. City started the game without a recognised striker but it was a great day for English hitmen in the top flight.

Charlie Austin bagged a hat-trick for QPR as they overcame a 2-0 deficit to beat West Brom 3-2 at Loftus Road.

Harry Kane was also on target as Tottenham edged past Burnley 2-1 at White Hart Lane and Andy Carroll scored his third goal of the season as West Ham beat Leicester 2-0 at Upton Park.

Carroll is 4-6 with Hills to make the next England squad, with Kane 5-6 and Austin an evens shot. Bet365 go 7-2 that the QPR man makes the Euro 2016 party.

Austin has 11 goals for the season, three adrift of leading scorer, Sergio Aguero, and the Hoops hotshot is 16-1 to win the Premier League golden boot, with the City slicker 15-8 second favourite behind 10-11 chance, Diego Costa.

The Hammers remain fourth and they are 14-1 to stay in the prized places, while Manchester United are 1-5 after staying third with a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa.

Fifth-placed Southampton are 11-2 after bouncing back to winning ways with an impressive 3-0 win over Everton at St Mary’s.

Spurs are 13-2, with Arsenal 2-5 ahead of this afternoon’s showdown with Liverpool at Anfield.

Hull have been cut to 7-4 to be relegated after losing 1-0 at home to Swansea but QPR have been pushed out to 7-4 after moving out of the bottom three. Leicester are rock-bottom and 8-15 for thr drop, with Burnley 9-20 and Crystal Palace 15-8 shots.

Bournemouth remain top of the Championship after their 6-1 thrashing of Blackpool and Ipswich are second after an impressive 2-0 win over fellow promotion challengers Middlesbrough. Boro slip to fourth with Brentford leapfrogging them into third after a thrilling 3-2 win at Cardiff.