Mikel Arteta is now set to make history that Arsenal fans aren't ready for

Arsenal have taken another step towards that illusive first Premier League title since 2004. On Saturday, it took more than 40 minutes for them to make the breakthrough, but the Gunners ultimately swatted Sunderland aside 3-0. Martín Zubimendi's strike in off the post opened the scoring, before Viktor Gyökeres came off the bench to net twice.

That's now back-to-back emphatic league victories for the league-leaders, who remain six points clear at the top, after Manchester City's dramatic victory over Liverpool at Anfield the following day.

This week, the Gunners have also reached the EFL Cup Final, courtesy of Tuesday's dramatic 1-0 victory over Chelsea. While Gyökeres is starting to find some form, the true stars of this Arsenal team remain at the other end of this team. If they do go on to achieve what they want to achieve, David Raya, Gabriel, William Saliba, Jurriën Timber and Declan Rice will be remembered as their most consistent performers. So, could Mikel Arteta's team smash an all-time club record?

During successive victories over Leeds, Chelsea in the Carabao Cup and then Sunderland this week, Arsenal have kept a clean sheet each time. This takes their tally to 21 across all competitions, from only 39 outings. But how does that rank when compared to previous Arsenal campaigns, and what is the record?

Most Arsenal clean sheets per season in all competitions (1986-present)

Since George Graham was appointed manager in the summer of 1986, Arsenal have only kept 21 or more clean sheets across all competitions in a single campaign on 20 occasions. Their current best total under Mikel Arteta is 23 achieved two seasons ago.

The club record during this timeframe is a whopping 30 clean sheets secured across just 60 fixtures in 1993/94. That year, Graham's team finished fourth, but won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, beating Parma 1-0 at Parken.

Their highest tally from a season this century came in 2005/06, the final season at Highbury. Arsène Wenger's team also came fourth in the Premier League back then, but reached the club's one and only Champions League Final, keeping a record-breaking ten successive shutouts en route to Paris.

Thus, Arteta's team require ten more to set a new club record, so is that achievable? Well, there are 13 Premier League matches to go, but the Gunners could still play as many as 26 more fixtures across all competitions. They'll fancy their chances of shutouts against Wigan and Wolves in the next week or so, as well as when they re-enter the Champions League at the round of 16 stage. The current percentage of 54% clean sheets has only ever been bettered once, this in 1990/91.

If Arsenal are going to end the season with silverware, perhaps multiple trophies to show for their efforts, it is going to be thanks to their defensive solidity, so that record must surely be under threat.