Mike Taylor
BBC Radio WM reporter
Image source, Getty ImagesAct quickly. There are a few hours left to screenshot the Champions League table and set it as the background screen on your phone.
On second thoughts, maybe there is no rush. On current form, Aston Villa will surely be handy favourites to make it four out of four in Bruges in a fortnight.
As a Villa great might have put it: do you want to bet against them?
It will be a while before we know for sure whether this season will be a glorious one-off tour, or the dawning of a new Villa era. Breaking into the modern elite group of clubs is extremely difficult, even with huge financial backing. But all the signs are good.
In just two months, Villa have demonstrated they can overcome the obstacles we might have anticipated in the summer.
Do they have suitable back-up to Ollie Watkins? Jhon Duran would like a word.
Will they be hurt by selling a key player, Douglas Luiz, to keep the finances steady? Now Villa seem to have more midfield options and competition than ever.
Can they handle the fixture congestion now they are in the top-tier European tournament, rather than the Conference League? Your new phone screen has the answer.
There are many moments already this season, some never to be forgotten, that highlight Villa’s continuing progress.
A spell in Saturday’s game at Fulham is a less obvious example, but it underlined the qualities that look like keeping Villa at the level they have now reached.
Fulham are strong at home and in good form, and for 20 minutes had troubled Villa. After Emi Martinez saved Andreas Pereira’s penalty, there was a slow but relentless change. Almost imperceptibly at first, Villa increased the pace. They pressed a little harder without the ball; when they held it, the passing became quicker and sharper.
It crept up on Fulham. So assured at the start, they began to be harried into stumbles and mistakes. It reminded me of the dreaded bleep test in a school PE lesson decades ago; one moment you felt fine, then suddenly you were struggling, knowing there was no respite.
By half-time, it was still 1-1 in a high-quality game, but it had been a clear show of strength from Villa and the rewards came soon afterwards.
The best teams in England and Europe menace good opponents like this. Villa, almost by the week, are looking more like them.
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