Mohamed Salah leads four Liverpool players: Premier League team of the season so far

The Premier League season takes a short respite this week for the FA Cup third round, and after a hectic stretch over the festive period, it's a good chance to take stock and reflect on the campaign so far.

With the season now beyond the halfway stage, it appears as though it could be all to play for. At the top end, a genuinely wide-open title race looks to be under way, with Liverpool holding a three-point lead over surprise challengers Aston Villa. However, champions Manchester City – aiming to become the first club to win four successive Premier League titles – can close the gap to two points by winning their game in hand.

Arsenal, in fourth, remain contenders despite ending this recent run of fixtures with back-to-back defeats. Rivals Tottenham are a point and a place back, so the battle for the top four looks set to be closely contested.

The rest of the top half of the table sees West Ham in sixth place, David Moyes so far successfully balancing Europa League commitments (the Hammers are through to the last 16) and staying competitive domestically.

Brighton & Hove Albion, in seventh, continue to thrill even if consistency has been an issue, while the three teams in eighth, ninth, and 10th will be disappointed with their campaigns so far.

Eighth-placed Manchester United perennially creep from one crisis to another, ninth-placed Newcastle have found their squad too stretched on their return to the Champions League, and Chelsea, in 10th, continue to struggle for cohesion, despite the brilliance of new signing Cole Palmer.

Wolves and Bournemouth – in 11th and 12th respectively – have impressed to defy preseason expectations that both clubs would be in a relegation scrap, while 13th-placed Fulham have picked up enough