Who would have thought that the Championship's top three at Christmas would be Bournemouth, Ipswich Town and Brentford?
The trio all won on matchday 22 yesterday, with Bournemouth hammering Blackpool in a top-versus-bottom match, Ipswich seeing off fellow promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough and Brentford impressively winning away at Cardiff City.
Derby County dropped to fifth with a 2-2 draw with Norwich City, while just four points separate the top six because of Watford's 1-0 win at Reading, where Steve Clarke lost his first game in charge of the Royals.
In the big game at the bottom, Rotherham United surprisingly won at Wigan Athletic to extend Malky Mackay's winless start as Latics boss.
Here, Sports Mole chooses its best XI from the weekend, in a traditional 4-4-2 formation, as well as highlighting the biggest numpty and best goal.
Darren Randolph (Birmingham City)
The Blues' resurgence under Gary Rowett continued with a 1-0 victory at Huddersfield Town, who hadn't lost in seven home games at the John Smith's Stadium. Randolph made a number of key saves, including one really impressive near-post stop from Grant Holt.
Steven Whittaker (Norwich City)
The Canaries felt aggrieved to only take a point from the iPro, but they almost didn't get it. Whittaker came up with the goods late on with a fine volley across goal and also kept Derby winger Jordon Ibe quiet for much of the game.
Dorian Dervite (Bolton Wanderers)
No-one made more interceptions than the Trotters defender this weekend. He helped Bolton keep a clean sheet on Friday night as they beat Millwall 1-0 at The Den.
Christophe Berra (Ipswich Town)
It's now just one defeat in 18 games for Ipswich following their 2-0 victory over fellow top-four side Middlesbrough, who came into the game on the back of two hugely impressive wins. Berra was a beast in the air and completely shut down in-form duo Patrick Bamford and Jelle Vossen.
Ikechi Anya (Watford)
Usually plays further forward, but had to revert to full-back after Gabriele Angella's red card on the stroke of half time. He helped the Hornets keep Reading at bay in the second half and also set up the winner.
Matt Ritchie (Bournemouth)
The Cherries have now scored 50 goals this season, 10 more than anyone else, following a 6-1 drubbing of Blackpool. Ritchie netted two - the first was a little lucky to creep in, but the second was a sumptuous strike.
Ted Bishop (Ipswich Town)
Boro boss Aitor Karanka said that the 18-year-old "joked" with his players at Portman Road, with Bishop playing a key role in both of Ipswich's well-worked goals. He played the clever reverse pass into Jay Tabb that led to the first before crossing to the latter following some intricate right-wing passing for the second.
Alex Pritchard (Brentford)
Produced a pinpoint strike from outside the box to set Brentford on their way before laying on the other two in a blistering Bees first half. The West London side have won seven of their last eight.
Bakary Sako (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Back to his best in the 1-1 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion. The winger was a terror down the left and was close to scoring on multiple occasions before he turned provider for the late equaliser at Molineux.
Ross McCormack (Fulham)
Opened the scoring at Craven Cottage with a curling 25-yard free kick as Fulham cruised past Sheffield Wednesday 4-0.
Jordan Rhodes (Blackburn Rovers)
Rovers need Rhodes to rediscover his scoring touch and he bagged both of their goals as they clinically got the better of Charlton Athletic at Ewood Park.
Numpty of the Week
Andrew Taylor: Rotherham hadn't scored in seven of their last eight games heading to the DW, so Mackay would have been fuming when Taylor's limp back-pass gifted Tom Lawrence the opener.
Goal of the Week
Lasse Vigen Christensen (Fulham) vs. Sheffield Wednesday: Some great long-range strikes over the weekend, but our favourite was the swift counter-attacking goal from in-form Christensen, who charged forward with the ball from the edge of his own box before exchanging passes with Hugo Rodallega and coolly slotting home.
