Arsenal bucked their trend of struggling to win on the road against the top side when they downed reigning Premier League champions Manchester City in January 2015.
Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud scored at the Etihad in a performance that had Arsene Wenger purring as he declared it their best display of the campaign. It would prove to be a flash in the pan rather than something the Gunners could build on, which is why it remains their last success on the blue half of Manchester.
This season the Gunners are made of sterner stuff, winning at the likes of Tottenham and Chelsea, places they would previously struggle. With the final weeks of the campaign now upon us though, there is a do or die feeling about their latest trip to the north west.
Their last success had Francis Coquelin pulling the strings in the middle of the park alongside the "superb" Cazorla with the youngster constantly halting the City attacks. Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker looked assured at back with Giroud leading the line.
Wenger smiled like a Cheshire cat in his post-match interview has he hurled superlatives at his players, both individually and as a collective. Trips to Manchester though would not be kind from that day forward - and Mikel Arteta has had to learn that the hard way.
A 5-0 mauling in the early weeks of last season had some fans calling for his head as City ran riot against ten men. During the Pep Guardiola era the Manchester outfit have won all six encounters, scoring three or more on four occasions.
Arsenal themselves have only scored twice in those six trips north and very much need to prove that they can wrestle back momentum against a City side that are tearing through everything at the moment. Already Guardiola has got the better of his former apprentice this season.
Their much anticipated first encounter came in the FA Cup several months ago with City securing a narrow 1-0 win, which admittedly came against an Arsenal side that rested several big names. Weeks later the defending champions dealt the champions elect a firm blow.
Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland all scored in a 3-1 success at the Emirates Stadium, which gives them the psychological edge going into Wednesday's match. Arteta had already said his side must play without fear in a game that could well end their title hopes.
The Spaniard also wants his side to relish the pressure as they eye a first title since 2004. "Absolutely, enjoy it," he claimed. "To enjoy the moment we are in, to enjoy the position we are in and to play every single ball with that emotion and that purpose, which is what I see every day in what they do."
