SOCCER: Remember that drizzly afternoon when Thierry Henry used the dregs of his strength to get fractionally ahead of a defender and the full-time whistle, for the equaliser that saved Arsenal's unbeaten Premiership record?

Nobody does. Nothing remotely like that has happened in a season when the club have turned the seemingly impossible into the virtually inevitable.

They have not needed much recourse to luck or histrionics and, presuming they deal with relegated Leicester City at Highbury this afternoon, Arsene Wenger's side will be the first champions to go through the top-flight programme undefeated since Preston North End in 1889.

Uncanny as the achievement is, the film rights would not fetch much at auction because there has been no suspense, no late twist. There was barely an outfield Arsenal player in shot for the sole cliffhanger, when Ruud van Nistelrooy hit the bar in stoppage time with the penalty that would have given Manchester United victory in September.

Arsenal have never been behind in the last 20 minutes of any of their 37 matches.

"More often it's been a case of clubs clawing us back rather than us catching up," said Wenger. The extraordinary feature of the team has been the consistency with which they demonstrate their superiority.

Even with a win today they will fall short of the 91-point record Manchester United set for the Premiership in 2000, but Alex Ferguson's team lost three fixtures. Although the current Arsenal are more susceptible to draws, they rarely have a real off-day.

This, as Wenger pointed out, is the second time in three seasons that Arsenal are unbeaten in away Premiership matches. The statistics smack of remorselessness, but the team are celebrated because, with such players as Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Robert Pires, they are a sheer pleasure to watch.

"Since I have been in football there has been a basic question to face," Wenger reflected. "Are you pretty or are you efficient? It's as if you have got to choose. What makes me very happy this season is that people have enjoyed watching us but we did win as well. That's good. "

There is no emergency plan at Highbury, there is no need. Wenger wondered aloud yesterday if he might try his new signing Robin van Persie as a "target man", but the Dutchman is unlikely to score with a barging header from a hanging cross as the team resort to long-ball methods.

Wenger made his choice long ago and does not deviate from a fast-paced, highly technical approach.

It was on a spring afternoon at Highbury five weeks ago that Arsenal looked as if they might not only be beaten by Liverpool but also blow the Premiership completely. In the previous few days they had been eliminated from the FA Cup and Champions League by, respectively, Manchester United and Chelsea.

"We were losing 2-1 to Liverpool at half-time and we could have taken a knockout blow there, after the right cross and left cross that had just hit us," Wenger recalled of the eventual 4-2 win. "When we got through that I felt we could go far."

Wenger, while a student, had completed a season undefeated with Mutzig in the French Third Division and despite an utterly different degree of difficulty he has always had in mind the possibility of Premiership invincibility.

He was even jeered for setting such a target last season, but a man of high ambition sought his own equivalent to Milan's 1992 feat of going through Serie A fixture list with no defeats. Now he is set to savour fulfilment today.

"It would reflect how great the team has been this season and it would prepare us for next season, which we would start with the record still going," he said. "Recently we have been doing just enough not to lose but now we want to do enough to win. I would like the game to reflect the quality of the football that we have played over the season."

His thoughts cannot be reined in and he is already stepping into the next phase at Arsenal. He might be able to scrape together money for a right back as cover for Lauren or a goalkeeper to understudy Jens Lehmann while Stuart Taylor is still trapped in a slow recovery from a shoulder injury.

Even the past cries out for Wenger's attention. He confirmed that the 37-year-old Martin Keown will leave to play at another club once an appearance today ensures one last League winner's medal.

Wenger marvelled at the sight of the veteran continuing to practise yesterday after training had officially ended. "He has that motivation," said the manager. "If you don't have that you will never be a special player." Judging by results, such commitment is rife at Highbury.