Don't be surprise that manchester city will recover from thier form after this break, and of course manchester city is supposed to be in the top 4 of the table if not for there poor performance. But I think they still have the chance to make it up to the top 4 because the point differences isn't that much just a difference of 1 point, chelsea in the other side is not also in a good performance. So I think the performance of this 3 teams after this break will determine who will qualify for champions league next season.
Such an assumption will not always be true because Chelsea and Newcastle will also use the break as best they can to improve their abilities in the rest of this season, moreover Newcastle also has a new spirit after defeating Liverpool in the EFL Cup final this season and Newcastle has not played its 29th match this season. This means that Newcastle's chances of getting a top four position are much greater than Manchester City. Because on the one hand Chelsea itself will not give up in maintaining its current position so Chelsea will also provide fiercer resistance to anyone in the rest of this season.