Some football teams come out of nowhere to stamp their mark of authority on the Premier League. Think of Manchester City. Before their coffers were injected with Sheik Mansour’s billions, they were used to bouncing between relegation and promotion.

Other teams in the Premier League era were on the cusp of greatness before finally tipping over the edge and achieving that level. The Arsenal team that went unbeaten in the 2003/04 season are one of those.

Of course, to say the gunners went unbeaten the entire season would be a falsehood, as they lost games in the F.A. Cup (defeated at the semi-final stage by arch-rivals Manchester United) and League Cup (Middlesbrough winning at the semi-final stage, winning both legs at Highbury and The Riverside). Arsenal lost two of their first three games in the UEFA Champions League, too, and would eventually depart that competition meekly at the quarter-final stage to Chelsea, losing to a goal by Wayne Bridge at Highbury. But it was in the league that Arséne Wenger’s team achieved immortality.

The league campaign came on the back of a defeat in the 2002/03 title race that was to bitter enemies Manchester United, after the Red Devils won nine of their final 10 league games to snatch the title away from North London. That was not going to happen in 2003/04.