When the end-of-season, individual awards are handed out, players from Manchester City and Liverpool should dominate.
There have been decent performers amongst the Premier League’s supporting cast but none of them really stand out: Harry Kane has had a decent campaign; Bukayo Saka continues to impress; Thiago Silva has rolled back the years. But the Footballer of the Year has to come from one of the two outstanding teams who meet at the Etihad today.
And if you get a vote in this sort of thing, you are truly spoilt for choice because the excellence in both squads has been across the board. The bookmakers do not see it that way. With those who have already priced up the market, Mohamed Salah is a hot favourite to be voted number one by his peers and by writers.
Considering he leads the scoring charts by six, that is understandable, but five of his 20 Premier League goals have come from the penalty spot. From open play, Diogo Jota has 14. There is an argument to suggest, attacking-wise, Jota has been as influential as Salah.
For City, there is not one performer who has separated himself from the rest. Phil Foden has been beautiful to watch but cannot be guaranteed a starting place, Bernardo Silva has been a model of tireless excellence, Rodri has been a rock and Kevin De Bruyne has been Kevin De Bruyne.
Both goalkeepers, by the way, would not be ill-deserving winners. But if the vote had to be cast now - before this sequence of fixtures that could define the season - there would be no more deserving winner than Trent Alexander-Arnold.
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No matter what he does in the season’s final couple of months, Alexander-Arnold is unlikely to win any individual award. Where the Football Writers' Association gave their award to Ruben Dias last season, it was the first time a defender had been honoured in over thirty years - the first time since Steve Nicol won in 1988-1989.
Yep, they were doing attacking full-backs in the late Eighties. Contrary to popular belief, the Premier League did not invent them. But none can have been as influential as Alexander-Arnold. If you want to know how unimportant statistics can be, Man City have just one player in the top 25 of the assists table.
And that is Gabriel Jesus. But Alexander-Arnold’s numbers are still mightily impressive. Not only does he lead the charts with 11 assists, he has created 66 scoring chances, 16 more than the next best in that category, Heung-min Son.
Every time he operates in the final third, it looks as though Alexander-Arnold will create a chance. Those of us who have steadfastly refused to clamber aboard the Trent bandwagon, those of us who have stuck to the line about his defensive vulnerabilities, have surely been won over.
Liverpool have conceded only 20 Premier League goals and, quite simply, Alexander-Arnold does what Klopp asks him to do. Alexander-Arnold has had difficult moments in big games, for sure, and he will face a severe examination at the Etihad.
But he is a player who, at 23, is maturing into one of the most accomplished footballers in the game. And it is about time that, outside Merseyside, he gets the credit his phenomenal talent deserves.
