It's done. The title race is run. Manchester City will be champions with their annual winning streak an inevitability - or so it seems with the return of Kevin De Bruyne.
The first half of the season brought some challenges for Pep Guardiola with shock results and injuries to key players but they have still been able to stay in touch with the leading pack. They sit in second place, five points behind Liverpool with a game in hand.
City have shown in previous years how they can put together a flawless run capable of catapulting past their rivals from a seemingly insurmountable position. Take the successful chase with Arsenal last season as a prime example.
Over the past six seasons, no other Premier League side has collected more than City's 145 points from the final 10 fixtures.
And more often than not, the driving force for this domination comes from the brilliance of De Bruyne, who made a devastating impact in a 21-minute cameo against Newcastle earlier this month after four months on the sidelines.
Kevin de Bruyne made an instant impact on his return to Premier League football with a goal and an assist in a 3-2 win over Newcastle
Pep Guardiola has been without his talisman for essentially the entire season, yet they are still second behind leaders Liverpool with a game in hand
For the Belgium midfielder, it was business as usual; a goal and an assist as the visitors recovered from a goal deficit deep into the second half at St James' Park.
Even without their star man, City's unparalleled form in the run-in induces fear in the their challengers. With him, they're almost impossible to go up against.
As Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp joked following his team's 4-2 victory over the Magpies at the start of the month: 'Kevin De Bruyne is warming up. The whole country is starting to shake.'
The numbers for Guardiola's side post Christmas in recent seasons have been staggering. With the exception of his maiden campaign, when his team struggled to adapt to his methods and finished fourth, City had enjoyed a win percentage above 70 per cent.
It was highest during the 2018-19 season, when his side amassed 98 points and pipped Liverpool to the title, at 90 per cent. They have had a 75 per cent win percentage after Christmas in each of the last two campaigns.
That relentless march has also seen the defending champions make unbelievable runs appear commonplace. City have won at least 12 games on the trot in each of the last three seasons.
Those runs have also handily taken place from the midpoint of the season onwards.
The City boss endured his poorest run of form post-Christmas in his debut campaign, which also included a 4-0 defeat to Everton in January 2017.
De Bruyne has averaged a goal contribution every 97 minutes after Christmas across the last three seasons
Last term, when City reeled in Arsenal before claiming one of their three historic trophies, the Etihad outfit put together a timely 12-game winning streak between February 23 and May 21, that included victories over Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Champions League-chasing Newcastle.
For City's rivals, the return of De Bruyne doesn't make for better reading. In the last three seasons, the 32-year-old has recorded a goal contribution every 97 minutes. In the 2021-22 campaign it was every 81.
Another reason why statisticians such as Opta still rate City's chances of winning a record fourth consecutive title at 58 per cent is Erling Haaland.
The Norwegian has been absent for City's last five league matches in which the champions have recorded four wins and draw. Not to scoff at his near goal a game record since moving to Manchester but Haaland has been comparatively wasteful when compared to the mind blowing numbers of his debut campaign.
Yes, he still sits atop the league's goalscoring charts with 14 goals but, with a conversion rate this term of 24.1 per cent compared to 29.3 last season, Haaland has gone from other worldly to merely world class.
Without last season's golden boot winner, City have still managed to strike fear into opposition defences, averaging 2.4 goals per game - the same figure they have posted in the 14 games with him.
Erling Haaland has been sidelined through injury for City's last five games but their goal output has been unaffected
City are looking to become the first team in English top-flight history to win four consecutive titles
Haaland is set to make his return in February when the league will be reacquainted with a partnership that yielded 15 goals last term. City always have a knack of picking up pace this time of year, only this time they also have two of their best players coming back into the team.
Anything can happen in football. This is a division stacked with quality led by an excellent Liverpool and battle-hardened Arsenal. But another title win for the blue side of Manchester feels like a certainty.