Christmas has always been a time to separate the wheat from the chaff in the Premier League.
And while the impact of the World Cup break means it's a little premature to be making any definitive judgements, what hasn't changed is the sheer concentration of games allowing for a season to be transformed.
Liverpool, then, will aim for a perfect festive period when they seek nine points out of nine with victory at Brentford on Monday evening in the knowledge it would move them up into fifth place and within touching distance of not only the Champions League qualification berths, but also third-placed Newcastle United.
