By Tony Attwood
We all know that our last great, great, great season was 2003/4 – the Invincibles, the Unbeaten Season, the last time we won the league.
So how are we doing now as compared to then? Is the current team as good as the Invincibles? Or is it better, or perhaps not quite so accomplished?
Here is the league table after 14 games in the Unbeaten Season.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chelsea | 14 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 28 | 9 | 19 | 35 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 14 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 28 | 10 | 18 | 34 |
| 3 | Manchester United | 14 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 25 | 9 | 16 | 31 |
| 4 | Fulham | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 24 | 18 | 6 | 22 |
| 5 | Charlton Athletic | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 20 | 17 | 3 | 22 |
| 6 | Liverpool | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 21 | 15 | 6 | 21 |
| 7 | Newcastle United | 14 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 20 | 19 | 1 | 20 |
Arsenal were out at the top as we can see, and of course had not yet lost a game, because they never lost in the league that season. But by 30 November 2003 by which time we had played 14 league games, Arsenal had nonetheless lost three games: 4-3 on penalties in the Community Shield game with Manchester United, 0-3 at home to Milan in the Champions League, and 2-1 away to Kiev in the same competition.
This season Arsenal have lost the same number of games. 3-1 away to Manchester United in the league, 2-0 to PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League, and 1-3 at home to Brighton in the league cup. So this season is better than the unbeaten!
Here’s the league table for this season
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 14 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 33 | 11 | 22 | 37 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 14 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 40 | 14 | 26 | 32 |
| 3 | Newcastle United | 15 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 29 | 11 | 18 | 30 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 15 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 31 | 21 | 10 | 29 |
| 5 | Manchester United | 14 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 20 | 20 | 0 | 26 |
| 6 | Liverpool | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 28 | 17 | 11 | 22 |
| 7 | Brighton and Hove Albion | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 23 | 19 | 4 | 21 |
| 8 | Chelsea | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 17 | 17 | 0 | 21 |
So let’s now compare Arsenal this season and Arsenal in the unbeaten season in the league
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal 2022 | 14 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 33 | 11 | 22 | 37 |
| 2 | Arsenal 2003 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 28 | 10 | 18 | 34 |
And what we can see is that this season, despite having lost a game, we have scored five more goals, conceded one more, have a four better goal difference and have three points more. Arsenal this season are doing better than the Invincibles!
Of course nothing will overthrow the enormous historic importance of the Invincibles, but it is worth noting that if anyone (especially in the media) starts to criticise Arsenal the fact is the club is doing better than in 2003/4.
And when on a daily basis the media insists that we are in need of more and more and more players as they do every day and as we cover in our regular transfer rumour chart, it is worth remembering that this team is better than the Invincibles! At least so far.
Will Arsenal win the league this season?
- The simple statistic that shows that Arsenal are on course to win the league
- Are Arsenal really playing like a title winning team in attack and defence?
- Arsenal’s 25 man squad, and how it will accomodate the under 21s as they move up.
