The Premier League's top two, Liverpool and Chelsea, are both in action on Boxing Day (against Leicester City and Fulham respectively) with Arsenal then playing Ipswich Town on Thursday as the title race takes shape.
Arne Slot, while insisting that Liverpool will take things one game at a time, has always said to judge things at the halfway mark when his team has played everyone once — and that point is nearing. As it stands, his team has a four-point gap with a game in hand.
And Liverpool is not just in a good position in the table. Injury-wise, things are looking good too. Federico Chiesa didn't travel to Spurs last weekend but he hasn't suffered a setback; that was simply a selection decision.
There are only two Liverpool players who are currently sidelined: Conor Bradley and Ibrahima Konate. Bradley limped off against Real Madrid in the Champions League while Konate picked up an issue in the same game.
Neither has been seen since, with Joe Gomez stepping up alongside Virgil van Dijk in the meantime. Trent Alexander-Arnold is now fully over his issue and both left-backs, Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas, are fit and available.
"They are on their way back but they don't train with the team yet," Slot said of Bradley and Konate before the win over Southampton in the Carabao Cup.
(Image: Pressinphoto / Icon Sport)
"We put a lot of effort in during pre-season," Slot said when he was asked about the hectic fixture schedule. "We gave them, in my opinion, quite a few days off but we are seeing the benefit of that.
"I have fully trusted the performance staff and they have managed that well. We only have two real injuries at the moment on the training ground today, and that is important."
Liverpool.com says: The situation has been really positive for now but there are still one or two areas where the depth could be further improved. If anything was to happen to Ryan Gravenberch, for example, that would be a major concern.