Is this the season? Gooners are once again daring to dream.

It’s been more than two torturous decades since the Invincibles.

In that time, Arsenal have won the FA Cup five times to make it 14 in all – more than any other club.

But it’s the league title that they crave.

And now, all guns are blazing. Slamming Atletico 4-0 was a statement victory that will reverberate around Europe.

They sit in the box seats in the Champions League and on the top perch of the EPL as Liverpool and City have shown their flaws.

It’s more than enough for long-suffering fans to think the wait might soon be over.

The bookies agree, making them odds-on to win the EPL. And they’re second favourites for Old Big Ears behind champions, PSG.

It’s a reflection of having the best squad since those Invincibles.

And they are close to invincible at set-pieces.

They also have winnable fixtures to come in all competitions before a tricky spell in just over a month.

Bayern Munich are sandwiched between London derbies with Spurs and Chelsea.

That week should tell us what they’re made of.

But now all is sweetness and light. Even their drought-stricken striker, Igor Gyokeres, has broken his spell.

The loss of Martin Odegaard has been shrugged off. Ditto Noni Madueke as Bukayo Saka has come back to fitness to take his place.

Myles Lewis-Skelly looks even more unstoppable. Ethan Nwaneri is a bit underused while an even younger wonder kid, Mathew Dowman, 15, is waiting in the wings.

What can go wrong?

Perhaps less than for other teams because of their depth.

As well as coping without key men, they can afford to rest the likes of Declan Rice in early Champions League games.

Their squad is significantly deeper than their rivals, who are already on thin ice in certain positions.

Liverpool’s centre-back situation is well documented and now City have lost Nico Gonzalez, the stand-in for the much-missed Rodri.

And finally, where Arsenal had to admit they couldn’t compete up front, they think they’ve found a striker who can score tap-ins.

The scruffy goal-line brace bagged by Gyokeres against Atletico is being hailed as if he’d scored two worldies.

But that, say Gooners, is what they were missing with the likes of Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard.

Besides, the Swede distracts defenders with his muscularity and willingness to chase.

They claim it makes up for him having very few touches.

But this is where they just might be getting carried away.

City and Liverpool boast strikers of an altogether different calibre.

Erling Haaland has stepped up to another stratosphere this season.

The Norwegian has scored 24 goals already this season in all competitions. He now has 53 in the Champions League which puts him in the top 10 all-time list.

He’s the fastest to reach 50 goals, bagging them in 49 games. Lionel Messi took 66 and Cristiano Ronaldo needed 91.

His touch and positional sense have also improved.

In fact, there have been games where Gyokeres makes Haaland look like Iniesta!

For the Reds, Hugo Ekitike has been a revelation to provide the turbo charge that still eludes record signing Alexander Isak.

What Arsenal wanted was a great goal scorer rather than a scorer of great goals. But the jury is out on that, too.

Still, you can’t blame Gooners for hoping.

They’ve been runners-up three times in a row.

Once it was an agonising 2 points behind in 2024. But even more excruciating was when they came eighth in 2021.

That’s the Year of the Invisibles as they didn’t qualify for Europe either, for the first time in 26 years.

But they’ve been building since then under Mikel Arteta. The Spaniard may owe his longevity to winning the Cup five months after being appointed.

They’ve gone from eighth to fifth to a hattrick of seconds.

You could say the pace is glacial.

But it’s not the reason Arsenal fans tend to shiver whenever the title is discussed.

They’ve also had their share of injuries. Besides those mentioned, the long-forgotten Jesus and the once-seen Piero Hincapie have been out.

Havertz, Odegaard and Madueke, who made a brilliant start after joining from Chelsea, could yet make a telling impact.

The skipper is expected to be back after the next international break, the other two by the end of the year.

Sadly, not too much can be expected of Ecuadorian Hincapie, who played just once after signing in the summer, or the luckless Jesus.

The Brazilian’s ruptured ACL was just one more for his catalogue of mishaps, and anything from the ex-City man would be a bonus.

Another of Arsenal’s strengths is their defence, with only three goals conceded this season, one of those a worldie by Dominik Szoboszlai.

Arteta, who learned his craft at the knee of Pep Guardiola, appears to put more emphasis on keeping opponents out than his mentor.

Known as “the handbrake”, it makes Arsenal less exciting than Pep’s sides, but after a long drought, Gooners won’t mind how the prize is won.

Arteta’s men have won just one point from their two clashes with Liverpool and City, which suggests that when the Big Three meet, there won’t be much to choose between them.

Indeed, the superiority of Haaland (and Marmoush, when fit) and Ekitike (and perhaps Isak) may be crucial in tight contests.

And Arsenal have more derbies to play than their rivals, with one this weekend against Crystal Palace.

The old “One-nil to the Arsenal” chant looks set for a few airings this season.

It would be a surprise if they did not land a trophy this season, but a big one may need that handbrake to be taken off more often.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.