Wenger's record-busters two steps from heaven

Arsenal stand on the verge of the latest in a string of statistical successes that underline the leading two clubs' domination

Thirteen-nil to the Arsenal. It is the eye-catching statistic of the countdown to the new Premiership season. Thirteen, as in 13 wins on the bounce at the end of last season. Nil, as in the combined total of points that their league opponents – including Manchester United, Tottenham, Newcastle and 10 others – have managed to take off the Gunners since 10 February.

It could yet get better, and sweeter. Victory at home to Birmingham City on Sunday would give Arsène Wenger's side the outright record for consecutive wins in the 114-year history of England's top division. The achievement would eclipse Tottenham's baker's dozen from the back end the 1959-60 season and the start of the following campaign.

Another Arsenal success on 24 August at Upton Park would consign Manchester United's record of 14 straight wins in the any division (the Second, in 1904-05) to the also-ran appendix of the game's annals. Two games of football, two fingers to your fiercest rivals' grip on history. And the record-stretching might not stop there.

Arsenal scored in every game of the 2001-02 league campaign, a record. They ended last season with eight consecutive Premiership away wins, a record, and were unbeaten away from home in any league game, another record. Only Preston North End, in the inaugural 12-team season of the Football League in 1888-89, had previously gone a whole season without losing away. Impressive, undoubtedly; astonishing, no.

What these statistics actually continue to indicate is quite how markedly Arsenal and Manchester United have annexed the race for honours and records since the Premiership was formed in 1992, and how both clubs increasingly enter each season facing challenges demonstrably less daunting than some of their illustrious predecessors.

Take Doubles, for example, which United and Arsenal do regularly. Five times between them in the past nine seasons, as many as every club in league history had claimed between them from 1889 to 1994, when United secured their first. Are the country's current leading pair truly more awesome than the likes of Tottenham's 1961 Double-winning side or the Liverpool team who won the league and FA Cup in 1986? Or has United and Arsenal's accelerated earning power in the Premiership era merely tipped the balance too far in favour of Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson?

The record books suggest the latter. In 10 Premiership seasons, United have won seven titles and Arsenal two. Blackburn Rovers, in 1995, were the exception that proved the rule that the "big two" now dominate the championship.

Consider the majority of Premiership records for most or best and United or Arsenal will probably hold them. Most goals in a season: 97 for United in 1999-00. Most points in a season: 92 for United in 42 games in 1993-94. They also hold the record for most points per match in any division in the three-point era: 2.39 on average during 1999-00.

The list goes on. Most Premiership wins in a season: 28 from 38 for United in 1999-00. Fewest goals conceded in season: 17 by Arsenal in 1998-99. Most consecutive wins: Arsenal. Unbeaten away from home for a season: Arsenal. Scored in every game: Arsenal. Fewest defeats in a season: three, for United (twice) and Arsenal, last year. (And Chelsea in 1998-99, but that is hardly sufficient to stop the rest feeling blue).

Yet compare these achievements with those forged in the past and there is still something left to aim at. Peterborough scored 134 goals in the Fourth Division in 1960-61, and Aston Villa netted 128 in the top flight of 1930-31. Liverpool conceded fewer goals per game in 1978-79 (16 in 42 matches or 0.38 per match) than Arsenal did in 1998-99 (0.45). Tottenham's Double winners of 1961 won 31 of their 42 league games (73.8 per cent). United could manage but 73.7 per cent (28 from 38) in 1999-00.

"If you want to be true champions, you have to win it again and again," Thierry Henry, Arsenal's golden boot-winning striker, said. "We are going to defend the title with our lives. We are hungrier, more than ever, to be successful." Hungry, hopefully, not just for honours but for the records they do not yet possess. What's left of them.

ARSENAL'S 13-MATCH WINNING STREAK

Premier League 2001-02
10 Feb Everton 0 Arsenal 1
23 Feb Arsenal 4 Fulham 1
2 Mar Newcastle 0 Arsenal 2
5 Mar Arsenal 1 Derby 0
17 Mar Aston Villa 1 Arsenal 2
30 Mar Arsenal 3 Sunderland 0
1 Apr Charlton 0 Arsenal 3
6 Apr Arsenal 2 Tottenham 1
21 Apr Arsenal 2 Ipswich 0
24 Apr Arsenal 2 West Ham 0
29 Apr Bolton 0 Arsenal 2
8 May Man Utd 0 Arsenal 1
11 May Arsenal 4 Everton 3