As attention swings back to domestic football, everyone (including yours truly) is busy trying to predict which games will decide whether the Premier League trophy ends up in the hands of Manchester City or Liverpool.
City are acknowledged to have the tougher fixture list, and are also expected to be in second place for the majority of the time left owing to their FA Cup commitments.
Trips to Selhurst Park and Old Trafford are commonly seen as the most difficult games left for Pep Guardiola's side - especially given three of their four league defeats this season have been on the road.
When you look at how the two title contenders have fared in the reverse fixtures though, the Manchester derby appears less significant.
Liverpool have already taken 19 points from the seven opponents they have left to face, so achieving the same level of success will set the bar at 95 points.
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The Blues have eight games left to play but took just 18 points from the first half of the season. Improvement is clearly needed if they are to close the gap at the top and the two matches where there is room for it are Crystal Palace and Leicester. City lost 3-2 at home to Roy Hodgson's side and were defeated 2-1 days later at the King Power stadium.
Both teams know how to beat the champions, but Guardiola is not used to losing again.
Since taking over at the Etihad three seasons ago, the only team that has managed to do the double over his City team are Antonio Conte's title-winning side - meaning nobody has done it for two years.
There may be other pitfalls waiting for the Blues but if the manager can extend that record beyond May his team's chances of becoming the first team in a decade to defend the league title will shoot up.
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