Arsenal have only won the Premier League title three times, but two of those triumphant seasons had something in common - a crucial 1-0 victory against Manchester United in the spring.
Mikel Arteta 's side will travel to Old Trafford on Sunday in confident mood. Last weekend's victory at home to Bournemouth was a fourth on the spin, including three clean sheets, while United are missing several stars through injury and coming off a humbling defeat at Crystal Palace.
Arsenal left it late to beat United at the Emirates Stadium back in September, with Declan Rice and Gabriel Jesus sealing a 3-1 win deep into stoppage time. Since then, though, Arteta's men have kicked on while Erik ten Hag's charges have seen their European charge fade.
The Londoners hardly need any extra motivation to give Sunday's match-up everything they've got. That said, there are a couple of big examples from years gone by which can help remind them what's on the line.
Let's start by going back to 1998. Arsenal's seven years without a league title is comfortably fewer than their current barren run, but it wasn't insignificant that the goal of claiming top spot in the Premier League era had eluded them.
The Gunners had finished the previous season third in the table after appointing Arsene Wenger in the autumn, and had benefited from 'Le Professeur' enjoying a full pre-season with his squad. A slump in November and December had dented their hopes after a strong start, though, and it looked as though they'd left themselves with too much to do after Christmas.
A run of six wins and three draws in nine games changed the narrative, though. Wenger's team sat nine points behind United when they headed to Old Trafford on March 14, but had three games in hand on their opponents - victory would leave their fate very much in their own hands.
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If Arsenal were to win, they'd need to do something they'd never done before. Remarkably, five previous Premier League trips to Old Trafford had seen them fail to score a single goal, but there was hope things might be different this time.
Wenger's side were inches from striking early, when Marc Overmars rounded Peter Schmeichel but failed to find the target from a tight angle. They needed Alex Manninger to come up big to prevent United drawing first blood, though, with the Austrian keeper racing from his line to deny Teddy Sheringham after Lee Dixon player the Arsenal defence into trouble.
Overmars was a persistent threat down the Arsenal left, with rookie full-back John Curtis struggling to contain the Dutchman. Penalty appeals were waved away when Curtis felled the winger, and then only the side netting denied the former Ajax star an opening goal.
He finally got his goal in the second half, though, bursting clear to beat Schmeichel with a low effort a little over 10 minutes from the end. United had no response, and Arsenal didn't look back, winning their next eight on the spin to seal the title with time to spare.
Four years on, the Old Trafford trip came even later in the campaign. Once again, it was a late run which propelled Arsenal into title contention - this time after finding themselves down in fourth as late as February.
Their climb came courtesy of the goals of Thierry Henry, who ended the season with 24 in the league, and defensive solidity not dissimilar to that exhibited this season under Mikel Arteta. They travelled to Old Trafford on May 8 off the back of 11 straight wins, conceding just three goals in the process.
United's defeat at home to Middlesbrough in March had opened the door for their rivals, who sat five points clear of Sir Alex Ferguson's side with two games to go. The first of those was at the home of their rivals, though, and defeat could have put untold pressure on the final day's fixtures.
Henry wasn't available to lead the line for Arsenal, meaning Sylvain Wiltord and Nwankwo Kanu were tasked with getting the job done. WIltord fired a warning shot early on, with his fellow French international Laurent Blanc getting in the way of a goalbound effort to keep the scores level.
It was another Frenchman who gave the visitors what would be a crucial opening in the second half, though. Mikael Silvestre lost possession around the halfway line, and a qucik Arsenal attack saw Freddie Ljungberg through on goal. While Fabien Barthez saved the Swede's effort, he could do nothing about Wiltord tucking away the rebound.
United couldn't find a response in the remaining half hour, and the title was sealed before Arsenal's final day clash. If any fans are looking for omens, by the way, that was at home to Everton - the same as their closer this year.
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