Newcastle United supporters are still checking the table. Can you blame them? Whatever happens at the Etihad on Wednesday, the fans will savour at least another night riding on the coattails of league leaders Arsenal in second place.
No wonder Geordies chanted: 'We're Newcastle and we're going to win the league!' during the Magpies' 3-0 win against Leicester City on Boxing Day. Those 3,330 supporters in the away end may have been half-joking, but they only needed to take a look around their surroundings at the King Power Stadium to realise anything is possible this season. After all, this was the site where Leicester lifted the Premier League trophy in 2016.
To think, exactly a year ago, only a single point was keeping Newcastle off the bottom of the table. Yes money has been spent since then, but nine of the 15 individuals who featured at Leicester were players Eddie Howe inherited, including two of the goal scorers: Miguel Almiron and Joelinton.
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Just as these players have been transformed by Howe and his staff so, too, has the mentality of the club. Kieran Trippier revealed that the players had talked about how they could 'do something special' as far back as pre-season. Now, in the La Liga title winner's words, it's about 'believing and taking that next step'. Even the measured Howe wants the fans to 'believe we can do anything'.
They are believing, all right. Newcastle have not hit these dizzying heights since Sir Bobby Robson's time in charge and Brendan Rodgers was hardly speaking out of turn when the Leicester boss said the Magpies have a 'great chance' after Howe's side picked up from where they left off before the World Cup break.
Rodgers is well-placed to comment. It was at this stage of the season three years ago that Leicester were flying in second themselves. However, Leicester did not reinforce from a position of strength in the mid-season window and the Foxes ultimately fell away and finished fifth.
As far as Rodgers is concerned, there is 'no reason' why Newcastle 'can't be in it if they can make the squad stronger in January'. Whether Jonjo Shelvey's calf injury accelerates Newcastle's long-term plans to bring in a number six remains to be seen ahead of a busy run of fixtures that will push this squad to the limit - even if forwards Alexander Isak, Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin will all soon all be fully fit for the first time together.
Newcastle coped when Shelvey was sidelined in the first half of the season, but Howe has already hinted that 'if we get injuries, that might change things again'. That is exactly what happened when Newcastle slightly tweaked the profile of attacker they were targeting last summer and signed Isak after Wilson went down with a hamstring issue.
Shelvey may only be out for between six and eight weeks but the stakes are so high at this level that Liverpool, who are eight points off Newcastle in the table, have moved to bring in PSV star Cody Gakpo after losing Luis Diaz to a knee injury. Diaz, incidentally, is only out until March but Liverpool clearly felt they had to act.
Whether Newcastle's owners follow suit will be telling. Financial Fair Play restrictions remain a hurdle and this is also a window that is notoriously difficult to do business in - let alone find value in as the Magpies did with Bruno Guimaraes and others nearly a year ago. Howe has vowed that Newcastle will 'endeavour' to find another 'transformational' player like the Brazil international and Newcastle's form may yet open one or two doors.
Some figures inside the club privately felt the break had come at the wrong time, when in-form Newcastle were on a run of five successive top-flight victories, but it gave the players and staff the chance to reset and really attack the second half of the season - and they certainly did that on Boxing Day.
It may have been both sides' first Premier League game in more than six weeks yet it was Newcastle, rather than Leicester, who looked like they had never been away when they rocked up at the King Power. The visitors, remarkably, were 3-0 up inside 32 minutes following goals from Chris Wood, Miguel Almiron and Joelinton.
In some ways, each goal was straight from the training ground. Wood has not become a reliable penalty taker by chance - that has taken hours of practice over the years - while Miguel Almiron and Bruno Guimaraes' gorgeous pass and move combination for Newcastle's second in the seventh minute is something that has been worked on at Benton. Even Joelinton's third goal after the half-hour mark was straight from a set-piece, which is an area of the game Newcastle have made serious improvements in under Howe's staff.
As poor as Leicester were in the opening stages - midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall even felt the need to apologise after the game - aggressive Newcastle made the Foxes look feeble with the way they pressed. It was Newcastle who were fresher and hungrier and, going forward, it is worth noting that Crystal Palace and Southampton were the only Premier League sides whose internationals had fewer minutes on the pitch at the World Cup. That may yet prove significant in the months to come.
As physically fit as Newcastle looked, what stood out more than anything was the visitors' desire as a glum-faced James Maddison watched on from the stands. Even at 3-0 up, Almiron was still tracking back to dispossess Harvey Barnes when the Leicester forward raced down the left flank while Bruno Guimaraes celebrated a tackle on Luke Thomas like he had scored a goal late on.
Howe would have loved more goals, but Newcastle simply did not let Leicester back into it. In fact, Leicester did not even register their first shot on target until the 82nd minute against a side who have not only kept more clean sheets (eight) than any other team in the top-flight, but, also, as many shutouts as they managed in the whole of the previous campaign. That is some turnaround.
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