Southampton winger Sadio Mane insists they're capable of sustaining their top four challenge.
Mane arrived in August from Red Bull Salzburg.
"I hope and I am confident that we can hold this pace and level of playing football," the winger told fifa.com.
"Obviously, in the Premier League there are always the three, four or five big teams which can be found at the top of the table, but I am glad that so far, there are some teams up there that could be called a little surprise, including us.
"However, we have to stay realistic. It will be hard to remain where we are today. We will give our best to defend this place, and I have no doubt we have the potential and will."
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