By January 3, we ought to be that little bit closer to knowing how the Premier League’s top six are shaping up.
Manchester United have thrown a spanner in the works with the appointment of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who takes charge for the first time against former employers Cardiff City this weekend.
First, Liverpool will kick-off a frantic set of fixtures over the Christmas and New Year period when they travel to Wolves on Friday night.
Which of the big boys has the hardest run-in? Liverpool and City arguably have the most intense group of games, as neither can afford to give the other an inch in the title race.
Spurs and Chelsea, meanwhile, will look to consolidate their place in the top four.
Taking into account opponents and their league placings, as well as the gaps between games, and the distances travelled door-to-door to away games, their respective pile-ups make interesting reading.
Liverpool
Number of games: Four
Opponents: Wolves, Newcastle, Arsenal, Manchester City
Premier League placing of their opponents: 7th, 14th, 5th, 2nd
Average hours between games: 72
Total Distance travelled to away games: 122 miles
Manchester City
Number of games: Four
Opponents: Crystal Palace, Leicester, Southampton, Liverpool
Premier League placing of their opponents: 15th, 12th, 17th, 1st
Average hours between games: 73
Total Distance travelled to away games: 326 miles
Tottenham Hotspur
Number of games: Four
Opponents: Everton, Bournemouth, Wolves, Cardiff
Premier League placing of their opponents: 8th, 11th, 7th, 16th
Average hours between games: 54
Total Distance travelled to away games: 360
Chelsea
Number of games: Four
Opponents: Leicester, Watford, Crystal Palace, Southampton
Premier League placing of their opponents: 12th, 10th, 15th, 17th
Average hours between games: 67
Total Distance travelled to away games: 29
Arsenal
Number of games: Four
Opponents: Burnley, Brighton, Liverpool, Fulham
Premier League placing of their opponents: 18th, 13th, 1st, 20th
Average hours between games: 60
Total Distance travelled to away games: 288
Manchester United
Number of games: Four
Opponents: Cardiff, Huddersfield, Bournemouth, Newcastle
Premier League placing of their opponents: 16th, 19th, 11th, 14th
Average hours between games: 67
Total Distance travelled to away games: 343
The standouts clashes are, of course, Liverpool’s two fixtures against Arsenal and City. To be the best, as they say, you have to beat the best, and those fixtures will prove a tough test of Jurgen Klopp’s men’s title credentials.
However, the Reds do at least have the second-longest intervals between games, because several have been rearranged for TV scheduling.
Tottenham, on the other hand, have the shortest periods between matches and the furthest distances to travel, as they head away to Everton and Cardiff.
Solskjaer will be pleased to learn that his new troops are the only side who do not encounter any top-half opposition, as the Norwegian looks to get off on the right foot in his interim role at Old Trafford.
The fixture calendar has been relatively kind to Chelsea too, as they have just a combined 29 miles to travel to their local away games and their highest-calibre opponents are 10th-placed Watford.
As things stand, there are a seemingly insurmountable 19 points separating pace-setters Liverpool and United – a statistic that spelled the end for Jose Mourinho – but elsewhere in the top six, there is plenty of room for manoeuvre.
It’s set to be a mouth-watering couple of weeks.