Sunday's matches between Arsenal and Crystal Palace, and Watford and Tottenham Hotspur, marked the halfway point of the 2016/17 Premier League season.
Each club has played 19 matches and at the midway point of the campaign, Chelsea are sitting six points clear of second-placed Liverpool with Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Manchester United making up the top six.
At the other end of the table, Swansea City are struggling at the foot of the standings with Hull City and Sunderland also in the relegation positions, while reigning premiers Leicester City are battling away in 15th.
We take a look at the season so far and what we believe will be the final outcome in just under five months' time.
2016/17 Premier League season - mid-season review
Best player:Diego Costa (Chelsea)
The Spanish striker tops the goalscoring charts with 14 from 18 outings.
Costa has scored crucial goals for Antonio Conte's league leaders, namely a late winners against West Ham United and Watford in August, a match-saving brace at Swansea City in September, crunch second goals against Hull City and Southampton and opener against Leicester in October, the only goal at Middlesbrough, equaliser in Man City win in November, and only goal against West Bromwich Albion and Crystal Palace in December.
He has one double, meaning he has scored in 13 matches, which shows just how consistent he has been.
Discipline is the best it has ever been with just five yellow cards thus far and his usual fiery confrontations have cooled dramatically under Conte.
Costa can be the main man that sees the West Londoners stay where they are until late May.
2nd best:Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal)
The Chilean has been dynamic in a more central role for the Gunners.
Sanchez has 12 goals and seven assists and his constant peppering at the heels of opposing defenders means he is always a menace.
Can show that he can be deployed as the main striker while also operating in a wider role at times, to allow Olivier Giroud to start centrally.
Arsenal rely on Sanchez as their barometer and he is delivering more often than not in 2016/17.
3rd best:Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Manchester United)
The veteran Swede is easily the best value signing of the summer transfer window.
At 35, there was plenty of doubt surrounding Ibrahimovic's move to United but he has delivered in spades having arrived from PSG for nothing.
12 goals including a brace in the 2-0 win at West Bromwich Albion, a winner at Palace, equaliser at West Ham, double at Swansea and pair against Southampton shows how important he is to Jose Mourinho's side.
Is starting to work well with fellow arrival Paul Pogba and will have a big say in how the Red Devils perform in the second half of the season.
Best manager:Antonio Conte
The Italian endured an indifferent beginning to life at Stamford Bridge, which took a turn for the worse in mid-to-late September with back-to-back losses to Liverpool and Arsenal.
Following the 3-0 defeat to the Gunners at the Emirates, Conte reverted to his favoured 3-4-3 formation and it has worked a treat ever since, providing a record-equalling 13 straight Premier League wins.
Has re-instilled unity, character and spirit into a squad that struggled on their title defence last season, but know looks well-equipped to bounce back to the winners' dais.
Best team: Chelsea
16 wins, one draw and two losses has seen Chelsea record 49 points from a possible 57.
42 goals scored is the second best in the competition behind second-placed Liverpool, and 13 goals against is the best defensive record in the league.
There appears to be plenty of depth with at least two capable players for every position and they have been by far the standout performer in the opening 19 matches.
Best goal:Olivier Giroud (Arsenal v Crystal Palace, January 1)
Giroud produced an outrageous scorpion kick with his left foot to send home a cross from Alexis in the 2-0 win over Crystal Palace.
The French striker admitted he was lucky to have scored such a goal but there is no denying it's absolute beauty and pure quality.
Manchester United's Henrikh Mkhitaryan stiff to miss out but Giroud's was more sensational. And not offside…
Biggest disappointment (player):John Stones (Manchester City)
Yes he may only be 22, but you would expect more from a £50million signing.
Stones has been dropped already this season by Prep Guardiola and benched three times after starting in what has been a subpar beginning to life at the Etihad.
The England international doesn't feature in the top 50 for clearances and headed clearances, and has made seven measly blocks.
I'm sure he will come good after working for longer with Pep but the first half of 2016/17 was not very kind to Stones.
Biggest disappointment (club):Sunderland (joint)
It all started when 'Big Sam' Allardyce took off for the England job in July having beaten off relegation under his guidance last season.
David Moyes came in at late notice and his players have failed to deliver, winning four matches, losing 13, and scoring a paltry 17 goals. Only Hull City have scored less (16).
If it wasn't for Jermain Defoe's nine goals, Sunderland's season could already be over.
But Moyes has the know-how to turn things around if he can somehow lure a couple quality players to the Stadium of Light, although that appears a difficult task in itself given their current predicament.
Biggest disappointment (club):Swansea City (joint)
You could say the Swans are a shambles this season.
An extremely respectable 12th-place finish under Francesco Guidolin, after experiencing relegation worries last season, would have built a fair bit of optimism around the Liberty Stadium.
But after a takeover by US owners Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan, the quite odd sacking of Guidolin after just seven matches of the new season, and then the recent axing of his replacement Bob Bradley after only 11 games, suggests there is something fundamentally wrong in south Wales.
Guidolin actually had a decent record of eight wins, five draws and 10 losses from his 23 games in charge, with a win percentage of 34, making his departure painfully premature while the decision to get rid of Bradley without even giving him a transfer window reeks of desperation.
Let's just hope incoming boss Paul Clement is afforded a little more patience by the American majority shareholders, otherwise it could be curtains for the Swans in the top flight.
Predicted Premiers:Chelsea
Predicted Top 4:Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Man Utd
Predicted bottom 3:Middlesbrough, Swansea, Hull
Predicted Player of the Year: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
The Belgian playmaker has netted nine goals and provided two assists from 18 matches.
He may be overshadowed by teammate Costa at the moment but Hazard has all the tools to guide the Blues to the title.
Last season was disappointing with just four goals and four assists from 31 outings, but he seems to be back to his best under Conte, and playing a much more team-orientated game.
The season he won the Premier League Player of the Year, FWA Footballer of the Year and PFA Players' Player of the Year in 2014/15, when Chelsea won the title, he scored 14 goals and provided 10 assists.
His goal count is on track to beat that but he just needs to step up his creativity a little and he could have a major hand in pushing Chelsea towards another premiership.
*The following selections/predictions are from Tribalfootball.com editor Chris Beattie.
Best player:Diego Costa (Chelsea)
2nd best:Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
3rd best:Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal)
Best manager:Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Best team:Chelsea
Best goal:Olivier Giroud
Biggest disappointment (player):Dimitri Payet (West Ham United)
Biggest disappointment (club):Sunderland
Predicted Premiers:Tottenham Hotspur
Predicted Top 4: Spurs, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man Utd
Predicted bottom 3: Hull, Swansea, Middlesbrough
Predicted Player of the Year:Diego Costa (Chelsea)
