Without context, this is just a statistic but when adding the background to its significance, it details how impressive a season Arsenal have had so far.
Arsenal watched on last campaign as Chelsea won their second Champions League trophy.
Thomas Tuchel managed to take over from the lacklustre showing from Frank Lampard and beat Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Manchester City to lift the trophy.
A squad injected with £200 million-plus worth of talent in 2020 won the ultimate club accolade.
This was then built upon with the addition of the £97.5m acquisition of Romelu Lukaku and Saul Niguez arrived on loan from Atletico.
Arsenal spent more in 2021 than their west London rivals but in the form of an overhaul.
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World-class players are required but Mikel Arteta and Edu recognised that the squad needed to be drastically changed.
Six players aged 23 and under arrived and others were moved on in both the summer and winter windows.
Across north London, rivals Spurs‘ poor start to the season saw them sack Nuno Espirito Santo as they trailed two points behind the Gunners.
Shocking the footballing world, Antonio Conte agreed to take on the job until 2023 and Tottenham strengthened in January with Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur coming in.
Fast forward to the present day and Arsenal have maintained the two-point lead over Spurs and, as mentioned, sit just three points behind Chelsea.
Arteta achieving this with the youngest average-age side in the league, a team that was given little hope of being in the top four race, let alone leading it, is a massive achievement.
It isn’t over yet and securing Champions League qualification needs to be the focus after guaranteeing Europa League football four games before the season’s end.
Wins over Chelsea, Manchester United and West Ham saw to that.
The argument that is pedalled by some that Arsenal find themselves in their position because of the underperformances of others simply doesn’t stack up.
In the last three seasons, achieving 75 points would have earned Arsenal a place in the top four and in 2017/18 they would have likely missed out only on goal-difference.
72 points would have done it in 2018/19, 67 points in 2019/20 and 68 points last season.
Regardless of the over or underperformance of other teams, this has been a season whereby the points tally reflects that of a side aiming to finish in the top four.
Not only that but with the likely possibility of finishing above a Man United side tipped to be title challengers and with the chance remaining to overtake Chelsea into third.
A Chelsea side also tipped to battle with Manchester City and Liverpool.
This has to be the club’s goal; the top four races need to be a step on the path to the top.
Arsenal must be aiming for a domestic title challenge and a push for Champions League silverware as well.
The work done, without taking the step to upgrade positions with world-class talent yet, has been excellent.
Arteta is looking upward with this club and the evidence is too clear to ignore.