Arsenal Invincibles or Pep's Man City? Stats compared as Wilshere rubbishes claim

The ex-Gunner said he 'wasn't having it' when Drivetime host Andy Goldstein made the big claim.

"Let me tell you now, that Arsenal team would have lost to that current City side," Goldstein said on Thursday, in a debate over Premier League champions.

Needless to say, Wilshere strongly disagreed with the claim, responding : "No chance, I'm not having it.

"Did you see the structure of that Arsenal team, defensively and in midfield, they were beasts!

"Patrick Vieira and Gilberto Silva in midfield, Roberto Pires - remember Pires? He'd get in any Premier League team now."

"Look at the City team", Goldstein argued. "Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Raheem Sterling…"

And that's when fellow co-host and Arsenal fan Darren Bent entered the debate, the former striker saying: "Are you winding me up?! Arsenal had Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Freddie Ljungberg, Sol Campbell!"

Goldstein's remark came a day after City put in a superb performance to defeat Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 in the Champions League.

The victory reinforced many people's view that Pep's men are favourites to seal their first European trophy at the end of the campaign, having fallen to Chelsea at the final hurdle last summer.

Another talkSPORT host Simon Jordan couldn't believe what he saw from City and said the football on show was 'as good as anything' he's ever seen.

"What I watched last night was an absolutely sublime football team," Jordan said.

"Absolutely beautiful football. I know PSG beat them earlier on this season but the difference between them is the same as it was last year.

"City are streets ahead of PSG as a football operation. Guardiola is in a different bracket of football manager in comparison to Pochettino.

"When you've got three players up front who don't want to work particularly hard, it makes it difficult, but Manchester City as a football team are as good as what I've ever seen."

Both claims made by Goldstein and Jordan have ignited the debate: who is the best Premier League team ever?

So talkSPORT.com looked at the stats to settle it once and for all… well… for now, anyway.

Although the 'Invincibles' went unbeaten, they only boast the NINTH best points total in Premier League history, as they dropped plenty of points by drawing 12 games in their unbeaten season.

Guardiola's 'Centurions' of the 2017/2018 season still boast the best ever tally as the cruised to the title by a whopping 19-point margin.

Liverpool came just one point short of this margin in their title-winning season two years later, amassing a whopping 99 points to seal their first top-flight title in 30 years.

Before that, the Reds had reached 97 points but incredibly still came second in the 2018/19 campaign, with City crowned champions by just one point more.

City's 'Centurions' also hit the most goals scored in a single season having amassed a remarkable 106.

However, Tottenham's Harry Kane beat Sergio Aguero to finish as top scorer in that campaign with 30 strikes.

In scoring that amount, City broke Chelsea's tally of 103 under Carlo Ancelotti to become the highest scoring Premier League team in history.

Arsenals 'Invincibles' are nowhere to be seen in the top ten - so although they were hard to beat, goals didn't flow as much as you'd expect.

As Wilshere said, it was their solidity at the back and in midfielder that set the Invincibles apart.

Arsene Wenger's unbeaten side still boast one of the best defensive records of any Premier League champions, having conceded just 26 goals in the 2003/04 campaign.

In fact, only one team has recorded a better defensive record as a Premier League winner in the last decade.

Who was it? Guardiola's City, of course. They conceded just 23 goals in the league when they lifted the title as part of a history-making domestic treble in the 2018/19 season.

There's no doubting that Arsenal's Invincibles side are one of the greatest ever teams.

But City's all conquering Centurions team of the 2017/18 season would certainly give them a brilliant go.

Having lost just two matches, scored the most goals ever (106), amassed the most points in the competition's history (100) and won by the biggest margin (18 points), the stats show that perhaps their astonishing feat of going unbeaten can be deceiving.