‘CITY ARE GREATEST’

ARSENAL boss Mikel Arteta believes there will be another Invincibles outfit.

Manchester City’s shock loss to Wolves last Saturday left Arsenal, who host the English champions this afternoon, and rivals Tottenham as the only unbeaten top-flight teams.

But, while he stopped short of predicting either of them would match the extraordinary feats of Arsenal under Arsene Wenger (above) in 2003-04 – and go undefeated for an entire league campaign – the Gunners chief is certainly not ruling out that it can happen again.

After all, Pep Guardiola’s City have torn up the Premier League record books in the past, including bagging the most points and goals in a season.

Asked if he is relieved City definitely cannot go unbeaten this time, Arteta, whose side are a point behind Guardiola’s men, said: “It’s a great record to hold.

“It shows the achievement and difficulty of that task because no one else has been able to do it.

“I don’t know if it can be done again – 100 points… it was never done before.

“And to score a record amount of goals and have the most clean sheets – all these things are great things to do.

“Things are there to be broken.

Probably one day somebody will do it.” Having worked for threeand-a-half years at the Etihad as Guardiola’s assistant, Arteta knows better than anybody the qualities within, arguably, the finest team in top-flight history.

Arteta said: “They have set standards nobody else has seen in this league, ever. That’s the reality.

“No team have ever done what they have achieved in terms of consistency. That is without question.

“To be the best, we need to be better than them. You know where the temperature is – and how much you have to raise it.

“But we have not won any Premier Leagues. From zero to three in a row – what City have done – we are very far away.

“It’s not only winning, but the way you play and win. They do it every single game.”

Apart from at Molineux, that is, where the suspended Guardiola was forced to watch the setback from the stands.

It is something Sam Allardyce regularly did through choice during the first half of matches.

Arteta, 41, revealed: “I spoke to Sam and when he explained the arguments why he did it, it was just brilliant.

“It’s something to really think about... maybe it’s the right thing to do.”