Arsenal are the new bookmakers' favourites for the Premier League title following their 2-1 win over Manchester City on Monday Night Football.
The victory was the latest example of their improvement against top opposition following the wins over Manchester United and Bayern Munich earlier this season.
Arsenal had just 37.1 per cent of the possession against City but they were well-organised defensively and made the most of their chances at the other end.
Arsene Wenger hailed his side's new-found maturity after they survived a late spell of City pressure, and Sky Sports pundit Thierry Henry was impressed. "They couldn't beat big teams like that before," he said. "And it was almost in an unlike Arsenal way: defending well, being tight and counter-attacking. We saw that against Bayern Munich. We saw that against Man United."
So have Arsenal turned a corner against the best sides? Here, we examine their Premier League record against City, United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham since the 2013/14 season…
In 2013/14, Arsenal's frailties were brutally exposed by Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea as they were repeatedly punished for their gung-ho, attacking tactics. City ran out 6-3 winners at the Etihad Stadium, Liverpool triumphed 5-1 at Anfield, and Chelsea won 6-0 in Wenger's 1000th game in charge.
Arsenal did boost their points tally against the big five with two wins over Totenham and a 2-0 victory over Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium, but their failure to record a single win over City, Chelsea or United highlighted their glaring weakness against the top sides.
It was more of the same in the first half of the following season, as Arsenal failed to record a single win against any of the big five. There were no repeats of the thrashings of 2013/14, but draws with City, Tottenham and Liverpool and defeats to Chelsea and United showed little progress.
On January 18, however, Arsenal secured a memorable 2-0 win over City at the Etihad Stadium, eschewing their usual philosophy in favour of a more cautious, counter-attacking style. The Gunners finally appeared to have found a formula to overcome the big sides. There was a 2-1 defeat to Tottenham after that, but they beat Liverpool 4-1 and drew with United and Chelsea before the end of the campaign.
This season, there have been more signs of progress. The 2-0 defeat to Chelsea in September felt familiar but Gabriel Paulista's controversial sending off was a major factor. There were frustrating draws with Liverpool and Tottenham at the Emirates, but they responded with a dazzling 3-0 win over United before Monday's victory over City, and there was also a 5-2 thrashing of surprise package Leicester.
The Gunners have only lost once and conceded just four goals against Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs, United and City so far, putting them on track to easily beat the total of 12 points they accrued in 2013/14. If they can match their first half of the season return in the New Year, they will finish with 16 points from a possible 30 against the big five.
Wenger will be hoping that is enough to secure the title.