Mikel Arteta's Arsenal will be out to equal a 38-year record and also set a new club Premier League first in Saturday's intriguing showdown with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
The Gunners head to the Black Cats' turf safe in the knowledge that they will enter the international break at the summit of the top-flight table no matter what transpires in gameweek 11.
In the best-case scenario, Arteta's side could move nine points clear of Manchester City and 10 above Liverpool, if they get the job done against Sunderland and their two closest rivals play out a draw at the Etihad on Sunday.
Arsenal are not expected to have it all their own way against a spirited Sunderland outfit, though, as Regis Le Bris's side are yet to lose a top-flight home game since their promotion from the Championship.
The hosts have also scored in all of their Premier League home matches so far in 2025-26, but they are coming up against a Gunners outfit who have kept an astounding eight straight clean sheets in all tournaments.
Sunderland vs. Arsenal: Mikel Arteta aiming to emulate George Graham feat
Arsenal's William Saliba and Christian Norgaard pictured on September 28, 2025
That run includes four successive Premier League shut-outs against Burnley, Fulham, Crystal Palace and West Ham United, as Arsenal went through all of October without conceding a single goal in the top flight.
Should the Gunners also keep the Black Cats at bay on Saturday evening, it will mark the first time in the club's history that they have kept a clean sheet in five successive Premier League victories.
The last time Arsenal managed a quintet of consecutive wins and shut-outs was during the old First Division days, when legendary player and manage George Graham achieved the feat in the 1987-88 campaign.
That year, Arsenal defeated Nottingham Forest, West Ham United, Wimbledon, Charlton Athletic and Oxford United while keeping a clean sheet each time, before their streak was broken in a 2-1 North London derby win away to Tottenham Hotspur.
The Gunners lost their way during the second half of the 1987-88 season, though, and they only wound up in sixth place in the First Division table, a staggering 24 points behind champions Liverpool.
Arsenal's defensive excellence against Sunderland before Premier League fixture
Sunderland's Jermaine Defoe and Arsenal's Alex Iwobi pictured on April 24, 2016
The Stadium of Light has been an intimidating ground for teams to visit so far this season, but during the Premier League era, Arsenal have made a habit of frustrating Sunderland's offensive forces.
The Gunners have been beaten three times by the Black Cats away from home in the Premier League, but all of those results came via a 1-0 scoreline, most recently in the 2009-10 season thanks to a Darren Bent strike.
However, Sunderland have never managed to score more than one goal in any of their 16 Premier League home matches against Arsenal and have not netted multiple times against the Gunners at the Stadium of Light in the top flight since 1982.
The Black Cats did overcome Arsenal 2-0 at home in a 2011-12 FA Cup tie, but they have since registered just two goals in their last five meetings with the three-time Premier League winners at the Stadium of Light.
The Gunners' most recent visit to the hosts' turf in the 2016-17 season ended in a 4-1 victory for Arsene Wenger's men, who struck through a pair of Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez braces on that day.
This time around, though, Arteta's side have been warned that they may need to settle for the "ugliest, scrappiest" win over Granit Xhaka's Sunderland.
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