Assessing Arsenal's season so far ahead of crunch Chelsea clash at Stamford Bridge 

Here's Nick Manfredi with an overview of Arsenal's season to date 

Assessing Arsenal’s season so far   

When the fixtures were released back in June it looked like a daunting start as we were handed trips to Old Trafford, Anfield, St James’ Park as well as facing Manchester City at home in the opening six games. 

So, if you had been told that after 12 games, we would be seven points clear of Manchester City and eight clear of Champions Liverpool you would’ve been well within your rights to think you were speaking to a delusional fool. 

But that delusional fool would’ve turned out to be not so delusional after all as this is what has transpired so far.

To top it off, we’ve conceded a mere five goals and have won all four Champions League games so far conceding a big fat zero goals.

Oh, and we’re in the quarter finals of the League Cup. We haven’t conceded in that competition either! 

We started the season with a slightly rocky win over United at the Theatre of Screams. Not our finest performance but result trumps performance at a ground we have seldom won at over the last 30 years. 

We followed this with a 5-0 thumping over Leeds before the solitary defeat of the season at Anfield courtesy of a stunning free kick from Dominik Szoboszlai. 

An impressive Martin Zubimendi brace helped us ease past the now unemployed Ange Postecoglou’s Forest before a late Martinelli lob rescued a point against title rivals Manchester City.

A hugely impressive late win at Newcastle followed which took us to within two points of champions Liverpool and since then we’ve dropped just two points whilst Liverpool have endured a biblical collapse and now sit an extraordinary 11 points behind us in mid-table.

I suppose if the past couple of months have taught us anything, it’s that things change in football in the blink of an eye.

On the morning of September, 27 we were five points behind Liverpool and since then we’ve seen a 16-point swing in our favour.

If you had to rate our season so far out of ten, it would be harsh to give it any less than nine.

While no one can win a title in November we are in a fabulous position to not only end our 22 year wait for the league title but perhaps also our wait for our maiden Champions League.

We have won five out of five including sensational wins over giants Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich.

Needless to say, the opening third of our season has been nothing short of sensational.

The question is, can we maintain it?

Given the injuries we’ve suffered and the imminent return of many of those players, I would say we have an excellent chance of doing so. But at some point we will face some setbacks, and it will be all about how we deal with those.

However, given the fact we have now been to many of the most difficult grounds in the league, I expect us to continue to produce exceptional performances and results as we approach the run-in.

You get the sense that, despite how good we’ve been, we still have a few gears to accelerate into.

That’s a frightening thought for the rest of the league (and Europe) and a very exciting one for us.

Let’s wait and see what unfolds. But my advice would be, whatever happens in May, enjoy every moment of this season.

There are no guarantees in football and success is often fleeting.

We may well be living through one of the greatest seasons in the history of Arsenal Football Club.

Just enjoy it.