Wenger has youth on his side

Fabregas was terrific against Aston Villa, marshalling the midfield alongside Vieira with all the skill, authority and efficiency of a young Roy Keane.

'His maturity is stunning,' said Wenger. 'For a boy of only 17, his distribution and awareness are fantastic. He never has one touch too many on the ball.

'I must rest him. It would kill him to play in every game. But he will play again, whether we have injuries or not. What I like about him is the fact that he is humble. He wants to learn.' Increasingly, we appreciate why Barcelona were so angry to see Arsenal snatch Fabregas from their grasp in September last year. Wenger took advantage of the fact that, in Spain, professional contracts cannot be offered to players of 16, and lured him with the promise of a secure financial future.

' He was out of contract at Barcelona,' said Wenger. 'There was a change of directors at the club, it was a complete change. He wanted to move to England.'

Wenger has quite a track record for identifying talent but Fabregas could be among his finest signings and a player who will ensure that an Arsenal team already dominant in English football remain so for some years to come. Chelsea and United might disagree, but if the Eighties belonged to Liverpool and the Nineties to United, this decade could well be Arsenal's.

David O'Leary certainly seems to think so. 'If you look at their side, only Bergkamp and Campbell are 30 or older,' said an Aston Villa manager who might find his Arsenal appearance record is one day threatened by such as Fabregas. 'It's one of the things that is rarely said - just how young this Arsenal team is and how much better it can become.

'You have to give credit to Arsene for that, because the new stadium the club is building has left him with a limited amount of money. Two years ago United bought Rio Ferdinand. In the same summer Arsene had to bring in Pascal Cygan.

'They've become the most popular side around, the most exciting to watch. You've got to be sad if you don't recognise that, and agree they'd be worthy champions if they win the title again this year.'

After nine games the statistics certainly suggest Arsenal have the edge on their rivals. While United have scored nine goals and Chelsea eight, Wenger's still unbeaten Premiership leaders are already up to 29. 'They didn't win enough games last season,' Ferguson dared to observe at the start of the campaign. Eight wins in nine, carrying them 11 points clear of United, is quite a riposte.

In the opinion of their captain Olof Mellberg, industrious Aston Villa's mistake was to score so early. 'I think we made Arsenal angry,' he said, although it was probably the manner in which Lee Hendrie celebrated a fine left-foot strike more than the third-minute goal itself which antagonised the hosts.

Hendrie made a point of running the full length of the pitch and sliding, arms out wide, towards the Villa fans. 'Lee's always had a scallywag way,' said O'Leary. 'Every manager he's worked with has told him to stay out of trouble, but that's Lee for you.'

By the time Pires had secured a victory that followed his first-half penalty and a super finish from Henry, Arsenal once again had that air of invincibility that comes with a 49-match unbeaten Premiership run. 'Nobody beats us, nobody beats us,' Henry is said to have shouted jubilantly to the Villa supporters. So it would seem.

Wenger is now sweating on the fitness of Vieira, caught badly on the ankle by Jlloyd Samuel. The Arsenal manager said his captain was an 80 per cent doubt for Wednesday's Champions League visit to Panathinaikos, but was more hopeful that he would be available for Sunday's momentous contest at Old Trafford.

Intriguingly, it is United who now stand between Arsenal and a glorious half century. 'It is the game the whole of England is waiting for and the whole world is interested in seeing,' said Wenger.

'But we are getting better and better in every game.' And, more ominously for United, every year.