The festive period brings with it a heavy schedule for Championship sides, with Huddersfield Town facing five league matches before the turn of the year.
With David Wagner's side currently eighth in the league with 30 points, we took a look back over previous seasons to see how many points the average side has by the turn of the year.
From there you can decide for yourself whether Town will be ahead of or behind the curve in five games time.
Last season Middlesbrough led the way by January 1 with 49 points from their opening 23 matches, while Derby were sat in second a point behind Boro.
Aitor Karanka's side would go on to achieve automatic promotion, while the Rams nose-dived from the turn of the year to finish fifth come May.
Hull and Brighton were third and fourth respectively - separated by goal difference - and their positions would switch by the end of the campaign.
Sheffield Wednesday - who rounded out the playoff zones in May - were sat in seventh on 36 points from 24 matches.
So last year the average position for a playoff side at the turn of the year was fourth with an average points total of 43 - but last season was the highest the mean position or points total has been for a playoff side for the previous five years.
In fact, Derby county's 48 points is the highest total achieved by a team that has failed to be promoted automatically in the last five seasons.
Town have the same points at this stage that Wigan had accumulated by New Year's Day in 2014 when they sat 11th, but 13 wins after the turn of the year saw the Latics finish fifth in the league with 73 points.
The average playoff side over the last five seasons is sat 5.4th in the league at the end of the year, with 40.3 points on the board.
Town are currently averaging 1.58 points per game and if they stayed at the same rate over the festive period they would see in the New Year 2.4 points off the average total with 37.9.
Although the parameters for a playoff berth change from season to season, Town fans should still be hopeful of a top six spot.
Newcastle are on course for 50.55 points by the end of the year - close to 53 points Cardiff averaged in the same time frame in 2012/13.
In that season Brighton finished fourth despite being sat ninth with 34 points on January 1.
The playoffs are undoubtedly a lottery - with the third placed team emerging victorious just once in the last five years - but the average points total by New Year's Day over the previous five seasons for a playoff-winning side is 40.6 - with the team 4.8th in the table.
And if Town were to make it to 38 points, they would be ahead of Norwich in 2014/15 and Blackpool in 2011/12 at the same stage in their respective seasons - and both were promoted to the Premier League via the playoffs.
