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The festive period marks the halfway point of the Premier League season and while the rest of the top leagues in Europe have a customary winter break, England gets ready for a series of matches crammed into a very tight schedule.
But before we run headlong into the next set of games, it's time to look back at some of the more inspiring performers that have gone under the radar this season. We look back at five players who deserve a lot more credit for their performances in the last few months.
#1 Nacho Monreal (Arsenal)
Column inches have been dedicated to Arsenal's numerous issues at the back this season. They have conceded 23 goals so far - the highest among the top six - as Arsene Wenger attempts to discover his ideal formation with the players he has available.
However, one player at the back has proven himself to be quite capable and adaptable no matter the formation. Nacho Monreal was signed as a left-back but has since taken up the role of a left wing-back and now a centre-back.
Whether the Gunners deploy a back-three or a back-four, Monreal has kept his place despite Sead Kolasinac's heroics. With Per Mertesacker unable to play high-intensity football anymore, given it is the final year of his career, Monreal has stepped in with Shkodran Mustafi's injuries making things difficult.
Although he is 31, he is still the same tireless player and is one of four players who has played all 19 matches so far for the Gunners. His ability to get forward even as a centre-back has been instrumental too while his all-round defensive contribution has seen him make 50 interceptions - the highest in the league.
#2 Abdoulaye Doucoure (Watford)
Marco Silva seemed to have done everything right at the start of the season at Watford. Having taken over in the summer, he made a couple of decent purchases in the market and The Hornets were hovering around the top four for the first couple of months before falling away in recent weeks.
That said, one of the performers of the season has been a player who has been at the club since 2016 - Abdoulaye Doucoure. While most fans looked to captain and striker Troy Deeney to lead them to a top-half finish, he crashed and burned this season. And the man who emerged when the smoke cleared was the 24-year-old French midfielder.
Doucoure is the club's top goalscorer this season with six goals. A man for the big occasions, he has already scored against Liverpool, Chelsea, and Manchester United. Silva has so much faith in his abilities that he has even played him as a forward when Deeney was unavailable.
He had even played every single minute of the campaign before a suspension ruled him out of the last game. Nevertheless, Silva (and Fantasy PL players) will be looking forward to his return in the next game to arrest their slide in the league.
#3 Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)
While many clubs looked to form the perfect trio up front, Liverpool have gone one step further and Jurgen Klopp has made the 'Fab Four' which have grabbed 32 goals and 15 assists combined so far.
Although Klopp's persistence with sticking to this combination has been detrimental at times with Liverpool conceding goals at the other end due to a tactical imbalance, take nothing away from the Reds' ability to counter-attack with usually deadly results.
At the tip if their attack is Roberto Firmino - the Brazilian who wears no.9 but doesn't play the same conventional role of a no.9. The 26-year-old has been overshadowed by the arrival of Mohamed Salah and understandably so following the Egyptian's 15 goals in 17 starts.
With centre-backs focused on Firmino in the middle, he is usually the first outlet on the counter. This is what gives Salah (and Sadio Mane on the other flank) so much freedom and space to work with.
At the current rate, Firmino looks all set to overhaul his goal tally from last season (at least in the league). He has already scored more goals than the last two seasons in all competitions - particularly in Europe.
#4 Chris Smalling (Manchester United)
Following an injury to Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof failing to establish himself as a worthy summer signing, Smalling has become the unanimous first-choice centre-back in Jose Mourinho's squad.
Barring Manchester United's last game against Leicester City - where the first thing that came to your mind is Chris Smalling in no man's land, enticed by Riyad Mahrez for Jamie Vardy's goal - the English defender has done quite well in the league this season. And he was injured and virtually immobile for the Foxes' equaliser.
Smalling had been dropped by Gareth Southgate when the England squad was announced but he seems to have taken it on the chin and put his head down to work hard to ensure he is on the flight to Russia for the World Cup in 2018.
His acid test came in the Manchester derby against a high-flying Manchester City who had scored in every game and he delivered. Although City scored twice from set-pieces thanks to Romelu Lukaku's antcis, Smalling had kept them at bay in open play with 4 tackles (with a 100% success rate), 7 clearances, and 3 interceptions.
#5 Jeff Hendrick (Burnley)
Burnley have never finished higher than 16th (last season) in the Premier League era. They have been relegated twice and finishing in the top half of the table was just a pipe dream at the start of the season.
Andyet, Sean Dyche has built a cohesive unit that now sits three points away from a top four spot at the halfway stage of the season. It has been a remarkable rise for The Clarets and Dyche has played to their srengths.
Largely playing a 4-4-1-1 or a 4-5-1 formation, the man who makes them tick is Jeff Hendrick. The Irish international is capable of playing as a support striker or a central attacking midfielder in a system that focuses on defensive organisation and solidity off the ball.
It only further illustrates his ability to play as a clever box-to-box player despite his "advanced" position. Having made 16 appearances so far, he has a goal and an assist. Whether it is Chris Wood or Sam Vokes up front, it is Hendrick who plays behind them.
With a pass success rate of 80%, he is only bested by Steven Defour and Jack Cork who sit behind him (or either side of him depending on the formation) but their passes are of the safer kind compared to Hendrick's which involve higher risk.
