Arsene Wenger

Arsenal Boss Arsene Wenger was delighted at how his young side handled the pressure of playing a day after United and Chelsea slipped up, by losing and drawing at home respectively.

Almost without fanfare the Gunners have stormed five points clear of United and eight ahead of Chelsea, after four league wins on the bounce and 10 undefeated.

Their solitary defeat at Middlesbrough in December could even be proving a blessing in disguise, for Wenger’s youngsters aren’t being burdened with comparisons to The Invincibles team of 2003-4.

Yet there is precious little between their records.

Four years ago the Gunners’ tally after 26 matches was 64 points, with 51 goals scored and 17 conceded.

Today they stand proudly on top of the league with 63 points and 54 goals for and 18 against — an improved goal difference of two.

Wenger has also been stressing the importance of his players showing “humility,” with plenty of distractions ahead.

The tough programme ahead starts with Saturday’s FA Cup clash at Manchester United, then Champions League games against Milan and visits to Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford in the Premier League, along with Liverpool coming to The Emirates.

But with Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Eboue and Alexander Song returning from the African Nations Cup and another potentially lethal striker, Robin van Persie, nearing a return from injury, Adebayor and Arsenal have plenty to be positive about.

He added: “We are very happy because it is very good to have a five-point lead over Man United at this stage of the season.

“But the title is not finished as teams can always come from behind. We just want to keep our focus at the moment.

“We cannot talk about the title until the end of season. It’s good that Kolo is coming back, Eboue is back and others are coming back.

“When we have all our players back, we can then focus on the title.

“We need to push a bit more so we can do something better and achieve what we want to achieve.

“We are like a family. The team is very young so, of course, the belief in the dressing room is big.

“The most important thing is to keep our heads, keep our feet on the ground and come the end of the season, we hope to win the title.

“It is not going to be easy, it is going to be very tough.

“We must go to Chelsea, and to Manchester. We are playing Liverpool as well, so it is going to be very exciting.”