How Arsenal compare to Arsene Wenger's title winners at same point - with key difference

Arsene Wenger's 1998 Premier League champions have an interesting comparison with Mikel Arteta's current side

Arsenal won three Premier League titles under legendary boss Arsene Wenger, with the Frenchman's first coming in 1998. After winning the title in 1989 and 1991, Wenger restored the Gunners' dominance by overthrowing Manchester United in a title race for the ages.

Mikel Arteta is now hoping to carve his name into Arsenal's illustrious history by bringing the north London club their first title since 2004.

However, while the 1998 double-winning side are rightly lauded for their accomplishments, Arteta's team are actually in a better position than Wenger's iconic team were at the same stage of the season.

The current Arsenal side find themselves five points clear of second-placed Manchester City at the top of the table. Although the Citizens are in control of their own destiny with Pep Guardiola's team having a game in hand and still have to play Arsenal.

As of March 2, 1998, Arsenal sat second in the league, trailing United by nine points, having just drawn 0-0 with West Ham. Although Arsenal had three games in hand over Sir Alex Ferguson's side.

What then happened was nothing short of mythical, as Arsenal went on a stunning 10-game winning run to wrap up the title. In fact, after a 3-1 loss to Blackburn Rovers in mid-December 1997, the Gunners won 17 of 19 games, drawing three.

Their next defeats came at the hands of Liverpool and Aston Villa in their final two games of the season, after Wenger's team had already won the title. Arsenal are now just nine games from immortality after they beat Chelsea 2-1 at The Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

However, many fans will be wondering whether Arteta's side have the same mentality as Wenger's 1998 outfit: one that can propel them to a stunning winning run to secure the title.

The maximum points City can reach at this moment in time is 89 and that's providing they beat the Gunners at the Etihad Stadium in April.

Arsenal's maximum tally is 91 and that's assuming they beat City. Crucially, should Arsenal win that game, City's maximum points total is 86.

The numbers suggest Arsenal would need to accumulate 19 other points from now until the end of the season to win the title. Therefore, a total of 23 from their remaining nine fixtures, providing they win at City, would be enough to see them crowned champions.

The Arsenal of 1998 were powered by the iconic Dennis Bergkamp, who was Arsenal’s top scorer with 22 in all competitions as well as a strong backline spearheaded by former captain Tony Adams. They also won the FA Cup the same year, beating Newcastle United 2-0 in the final.

Arteta's side are still in the FA Cup, have a League Cup final to come and are in the last-16 of the Champions League. There is a reality where the Spaniard could arguably oversee Arsenal's greatest season of all time, should they win a number of trophies.

However, ex-Arsenal midfielder Nigel Winterburn believes the 1998 title-winning team compares with any other team Wenger has built during his 20-year reign, including the heroic Invincible side of 2004.

Winterburn said: "In my time at Arsenal, the '98 team was the best team I played in. Luckily enough, the players we had and the players he brought in seemed to complement each other terrifically well and obviously that came to fruition very, very quickly with the 1998 Double team."

Next up for Arteta's Arsenal is a midweek trip to Brighton with the Seagulls hosting the Gunners on Wednesday evening. City will face Nottingham Forest at home on the same night.