With the fourth round of the FA Cup providing a timely interlude for a Premier League season about to enter a potentially defining week in terms of the title race, it seems an opportune time to put the top six through their paces.
The gap between the front runners and the rest of the division has rarely been so pronounced. If Chelsea can successfully negotiate their next two league matches—away at Liverpool on Tuesday and then at home to Arsenal on Saturday—there could be similar daylight between Antonio Conte's side and the chasing pack.
Here we give Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool the once over, with Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur to be assessed on Monday.
Arsenal (currently second, 47 points)
After nine Premier League matches, just a solitary point separated first from fifth. In previous campaigns, the difference had never been fewer than three points, with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger at the time confidently declaring somewhere between 82 and 86 points would be enough to win this season's title.
The gap between first and fifth is now 12 points. At Chelsea's current points-per-game average of 2.5, they are on course to match the 95 that won them the title in 2004/05. It is a Premier League record haul no one expected to be challenged this term, certainly not by Chelsea.
To open a conversation about Arsenal by talking about Chelsea may be confrontational in some parts of the capital, but it's more to give context to the fact the north Londoners are probably just about where they should be. There's no doubt they have endured patches of indifferent form but nothing out of the ordinary—even for a club with serious title aspirations.
They have three more points than at the same stage last season, and they were top at the time. Throughout Arsenal's Champions League campaign, it has been difficult to make out the commentary above the teeth gnashing, but for all the criticism, they made it through to the knockout stages. And at the time of writing, they're still in the FA Cup, too.
After 13 years without a title, though, the air in north London is rich with impotent incandescence, equal parts frustration and entitlement. No Premier League club lurches from a state of contentment to crisis and back again on pretty much a weekly basis like Arsenal.
From the outside looking in, it can seem as though Arsenal operate (or are at least judged) only in 90-minute segments, each match giving birth to a new entity not beholden to what has passed or may follow.
Back-to-back defeats to Everton and Manchester City in the middle of December were more disappointing than catastrophic, and while they've hardly set the world alight since the turn of the year—they were largely abject at Bournemouth save for the late comeback in a 3-3 draw and fortuitous in beating Burnley last time out—the form book stills reads four wins and a draw from their last five league games.
Alexis Sanchez seems to understand the issue more than most. His battle cry on Arsenal.com this week will embolden the club's supporters and likely make Wenger feel a little lightheaded.
"I feel really happy and comfortable at the club. I want to give the supporters a new title," said Sanchez.
"We always get our fans' support through thick and thin, which is great. We must win the Premier League or Champions League for them."
It's a hard ask to decide which of Chelsea or Bayern Munich will prove easier to topple. The bookies will likely conclude neither is likely.
Wenger is far too astute a man not to be aware that last season his Arsenal team less looked a gift horse in the mouth—then sent it packing armed with directions to Leicester. This term it's very different.
The top six have each in their own way asserted a little authority on proceedings, rendering games between them more important than ever.
Next weekend's meeting between the top two at Stamford Bridge is so intrinsic to this season's title race even Sky Sports might struggle to overhype it.
With Arsenal hosting Watford in midweek while Chelsea travel to Liverpool, there's a chance Wenger's side will have closed the gap on the leaders before they meet on Saturday. If, however, Arsenal are even further behind Chelsea by the time of the game, expect the travelling flags in the away end to be more of the "In Wenger we rust" variety than "In Wenger we trust."
Arsenal's 3-0 win in the corresponding fixture in late September was Wenger's first victory over Chelsea in the league since October 2011 (drew three, lost six). Football is nothing if not a cruel master, and so it proved again, as one of Arsenal's best results in recent seasons kick-started the Blues' title tilt more than it did their own.
In the story of this season's title race, there's a real sense Saturday's game could prove almost as important.
If Wenger fails to orchestrate Arsenal's first double over Chelsea since 2003/04, it will become increasingly difficult to see how and where they can make up the points deficit.
Position and points after 22 matches last season: First, 44 points (+3 point swing)
League form last six matches: LWWDWW
Next six matches: Watford (h), Chelsea (a), Hull City (h), Liverpool (a), Leicester City (h), West Brom (a)
Final three matches: Manchester United (h), Stoke City (a), Everton (h)
Matches left against top six (five in total): Chelsea (a) Feb 4, Liverpool (a) March 4, Manchester City (h) April 1, Tottenham Hotspur (a) April 29, Manchester United (h) May 6
Players currently in the physio room (three): Mathieu Debuchy (hamstring), Santi Cazorla (plantaris injury), Per Mertesacker (knee)
Player who most needs to stay out of the physio room: Alexis Sanchez
The Chilean is different, which is why he is Arsenal's most important player by some distance. The 15 league goals he has scored are invaluable, but more than that, he's got a bit of the street fighter about him.
For a long time, Arsenal have been the team you'd most like to bring home to meet your mother. Sanchez would probably wink at her while your father, oblivious, pores over his newspaper. He has an edge in a team of circles.
His 98th-minute Panenka penalty against Burnley in the club's last Premier League match was so ballsy, it's a wonder they were allowed to show it pre-watershed. Mary Whitehouse, God rest her soul, would have been aghast.
Prior to Sanchez's intervention, Arsenal had shot themselves in the foot so predictably in gifting Burnley an injury-time equaliser and the usually even-handed Wenger was threatening to turn the gun on fourth official Anthony Taylor. The Frenchman will serve a four-match ban for his sins.
Mesut Ozil's dip in form has only amplified Sanchez's standing at the club. Olivier Giroud's run of five goals in his last six appearances, including important late efforts against West Bromwich Albion, Bournemouth and Preston North End, has shunted Sanchez out wide, but few would dispute who is front and centre in this Arsenal team.
Chelsea (currently first, 55 points)
For a foreign manager in his debut season, in the self-proclaimed toughest league in the world, Antonio Conte is making it all look pretty easy. It's no surprise English journalists of a patriotic persuasion don't bother to interrogate Conte on the difficulty of the Premier League as they do Pep Guardiola on a weekly basis.
His decisiveness in switching Chelsea to a 3-4-3 formation on the back of successive league defeats in September looks likely to prove one of the most astute decisions in recent Premier League history. Since losing 3-0 to Arsenal at the Emirates, they have won 15 of their last 16 matches.
In his match report, the BBC's chief football writer Phil McNulty wrote: "Chelsea looked an old and jaded side when faced with Liverpool's intense, aggressive approach at Stamford Bridge last week, their first loss under Antonio Conte.
"This was, arguably, an even more harrowing experience and a stark illustration of the job the Italian must do to revive Chelsea.
"Conte will know the pressures that come with managing under demanding owner Roman Abramovich, but the man who impressed so much in charge of Juventus and Italy must be given time to address so many problems."
It took him a week to find a solution, or more specifically the 15-minute half-time break at Arsenal when he decided to switch Chelsea to three at the back.
McNulty was not alone in his sentiments nor was he wrong. Later in his report, he took John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic, Cesc Fabregas, Eden Hazard and Diego Costa to task. It's easy to be brutal when putting pen to paper; Conte did it in person. Terry and Ivanovic have barely figured since, while Fabregas has only in patches fared much better.
Equally as impressive as having the personality to bomb out senior players without them disrupting the dressing room (Andre Villas-Boas, Rafa Benitez and even Jose Mourinho will vouch for the very real possibility of that happening) are the performances he has coaxed out of Hazard and Costa. He's portrayed as a manager who rules with a stick, but one suspects he's subtler than that. The best man-managers bring out the carrot just as readily.
The remarkable transformative job Conte has done is never more evident than in the 30-point positive swing he has overseen in comparison to the same 22-match stage of last season. To put that figure into context, Leicester City were bottom of the Premier League at the same juncture in 2014/15. Claudio Ranieri en route to guiding them to the most remarkable title arguably in football history in 2015/16 had engineered a 27-point positive swing by the 22-match mark.
That's not to suggest if Conte wins the league with Chelsea, it would in any way match Ranieri and Leicester's achievements, but it does bring to light the magnitude of the improvement he has engendered. With 16 matches left to play, Chelsea already have five more points than the 50 they finished with last season.
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Conte can afford to walk tall, given he has brought back into vogue playing three at the back.
Prior to the Italian going all continental on us, the Premier League was borderline institutionalised in its affection for four-man defences. England's top flight is blessed with some of the finest tactical minds in the world, but each of Wenger, Guardiola, Mourinho, Jurgen Klopp and Maurico Pochettino are anglicised, to varying levels, in the trust they place in back fours.
Conte has proven, like all the best coaches, he can find a solution beyond the chequebook. Victor Moses' metamorphosis from being a spare part at every club he has ever been at to one of the players of the season being a case in point. Why buy a world-class wing-back when you can mould one with hard work on the training field?
His recent handling of Costa appears to have been equally exemplary. To say the matter is over before the January window has slammed shut is a little like presuming it's safe to return to a lit firework that hasn't gone off, just because a reasonable period has elapsed. However, even if a shred of doubt lingers, Conte has nonetheless demonstrated to the rest of his squad that dissension will be met with discipline, even if the door is left ajar. It's that carrot and stick again.
Costa's flirtations with the Chinese Super League and a row with a fitness coach saw him dropped for the Leicester City game, amid reports the Italian had screamed at his striker "Go to China!" in a training-ground row between the pair of them. Chelsea were irresistible in taking the champions apart 3-0.
Many predicted Costa would never be seen again in a Chelsea shirt. He started and scored the next game as Chelsea ground out a 2-0 victory over Hull City. It looks like Conte can be pretty pragmatic for an emotional Italian.
The odds are Costa will probably still leave Chelsea at the end of the season, but he'll be able to do so via the front door and likely as a Premier League winner for the second time in three campaigns in England. And for that, he'll owe his manager a bottle of the finest red wine known to man.
Position and points after 22 matches last season: 14th, 25 points (+30 point swing)
League form last six matches: WWWLWW
Next six matches: Liverpool (a), Arsenal (h), Burnley (a), Swansea City (h), West Ham United (a), Watford (h)
Final three matches: Middlesbrough (h), West Bromwich Albion (a), Sunderland (h)
Matches left against top six (four in total): Liverpool (a) Jan 31, Arsenal (h) Feb 4, Manchester City (h) April 5, Manchester United (a) April 15
Players currently in the physio room: None
Player who most needs to stay out of the physio room: Diego Costa
There's little doubt Hazard is Chelsea's most talented player, few would dispute he is their best, but it is Costa's goals that will be key to getting them over the line in terms of the title.
Prior to the most ill-timed head turn in living memory, Costa had proven himself to once again be the best centre-forward in the Premier League, arguably the whole of Europe.
Chelsea made light work of Leicester in his absence, but it's worth considering only six other Premier League clubs have shipped more goals than Ranieri's side.
Costa has been as good this season as he was bad last. If Conte and Chelsea can eke out of him 16 more Premier League performances as good as the 20 he has put in to date this season (scoring 15 at an average of 118 minutes per goal), it's hard to see how if he does depart in the summer, it won't be as a champion.
Liverpool (currently fourth, 45 points)
A month is a long time in football. Back at the start of January, in a piece about how the Premier League's top six are so much better this season than last, I noted how Klopp was the only manager in the leading pack not to have been criticised at one point or another.
The German's time is seemingly now. His critics have not been slow to point out how Liverpool's failure to score over two legs in defeat to Southampton, in the semi-final of the EFL Cup, distinctly echoed Klopp's inability to think on his feet last season, when things were going against his side in both the Europa League final defeat to Sevilla and Capital One Cup final loss against Manchester City.
A firm advocate of football having a winter break, it's likely seven matches in 23 days that have yielded just a solitary victory will have only strengthened his conviction. Over the same period, they have scored just six goals, which is quite the slump considering Liverpool are the highest scorers in the Premier League with 51.
That a 1-0 victory over League Two side Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup after Klopp's side were held to a goalless draw at Anfield is a highlight says much about the driest of Januarys. If it stays like this, Klopp will be looking forward to drowning his sorrows in February.
Liverpool have gone from being six points behind Chelsea in second place to trailing Conte's side by 10 in fourth. Both Manchester clubs are now within spitting distance. Liverpool's aspirations have seemingly turned to securing a Champions League spot, as opposed to seriously challenging for the title.
A 27-year wait for league glory is looking highly unlikely to end in May. It has never been a secret Liverpool's squad lacks the depth of its rivals, it's only now that perhaps it is being exposed.
It will pain Liverpool supporters to agree with Sir Alex Ferguson, but after Liverpool's shonky back line endured its nadir in conceding three at home to Swansea City last weekend, it's hard not to recall the Scot saying: "Attack wins you games, defence wins you titles."
It's impossible to perm four from any of Liverpool's defenders and keep a straight face while suggesting it looks like a title-winning back line. There's no doubt Klopp should have looked at strengthening defensively over the summer, but in his defence (pardon the pun), his buys have by and large been real success stories.
There were few impromptu parties thrown in the streets of Anfield when Sadio Mane, Georginio Wijnaldum and Joel Matip were brought in over the close season. All three have proven really astute acquisitions. The jury may still be out on Ragnar Klavan and Loris Karius, but as educated punts, neither broke the bank.
Mane being away on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Senegal was always going to impact Liverpool after his flying start on Merseyside, but few could have envisaged quite how much. His absence, when coupled with Philippe Coutinho's injury from which he has only recently returned, was supposed to open the door for Daniel Sturridge or Divock Origi to burst through. It's fair to say it remains on its hinges.
"The only reason to have Sturridge in the team is for his finishing ability," Jamie Carragher said on Sky Sports after the out-of-sorts forward's profligacy proved costly on Wednesday night against Southampton.
"That's the case with that type of striker now, if they're not a target man, or don't run in behind, everything has got to be put on a plate. So when he doesn't score you're basically down to 10 men because they are not offering anything else whatsoever."
When a former team-mate can be as caustic as that, it's a measure of how far Sturridge's stock has fallen.
Amid the gloom, though, it's worth remembering five excellent months preceded a bad one. Liverpool have lost just two of their last 20 in the league and are only two points off second. Given they have finished in the top four just once since they should have won the Premier League in 2008/09—finishing eighth, sixth, second, seventh, eighth, sixth and seventh—it's hardly a catastrophe.
If they can beat Chelsea on Tuesday to secure the double over Conte's side, all will be right with the world again on Merseyside. The Chelsea game kicks off a run that sees Liverpool play four of the top six in their next seven matches.
No one expected Liverpool to win the league, so there shouldn't be too many tears when they don't. It takes a harsher critic than this one to suggest Klopp is not taking them in the right direction at pace.
That said, given Liverpool have won one trophy in the past decade, there's no getting around the fact losing to Southampton over two legs in a semi-final is a glorious opportunity squandered.
Sturridge will be kicking himself and, on current form, more than likely missing.
Position and points after 22 matches last season: Eighth, 31 points (+14 point swing)
League form last six matches: WWWDDL
Next six matches: Chelsea (h), Hull City (a), Tottenham (h), Leicester City (a), Arsenal (h), Burnley (h)
Final three matches: Southampton (h), West Ham United (a), Middlesbrough (h)
Matches left against top six (four in total): Chelsea (h) Jan 31, Tottenham (h) Feb 11, Arsenal (h) March 4, Manchester City (a) March 19
Players currently in the physio room (six): Adam Lallana (knock), Nathaniel Clyne (rib injury), Cameron Brannagan (ankle), Marko Grujic (hamstring), Adam Bogdan (knee), Danny Ings (knee)
Player who most needs to stay out of the physio room: Philippe Coutinho
The adage that absence makes the heart grow fonder is trite and saccharine in equal measures, but there's no little truth to it. Sane is so direct in possession, it's borderline rude, and his hard running has been sorely missed. Liverpool have won 71.4 percent of games he has started, with that number dropping dropping to 33.3 percent when he hasn't. He cannot return from international duty quick enough.
Roberto Firmino, too, embodies everything that is good about Liverpool when on song, as industrious as he is technically brilliant, with his nine goals to date seeing him share top goalscoring honours with Sane.
It is, however, difficult to look beyond Coutinho when earmarking Liverpool's most important player. Back from injury and having just signed a new contract amid reports Barcelona are making goo-goo eyes from afar, Klopp will implore his Brazilian playmaker to take his game to the next level over the next few seasons.
He's one of few Premier League players, indeed across the world, who can genuinely take the breath away.
As Klopp noted after Coutinho signed his deal this week, he's the player everyone else wants. Contract or otherwise, Klopp is cute enough to know Liverpool must ensure they are Champions League regulars if they are keep him at Anfield long term.
All injury data taken from physioroom.com and correct as of Jan 28.