chelsea drove themselves one step closer to the premier league title with another defensive masterclass at the emirates, shutting out arsenal just a week after doing the same to manchester united led magnificently by john terry, jose mourinho’s side have proved once again that a solid back four is the bedrock of any title challenge from the meanest to the most successful, sportsmail takes a look at the best defences in premier league history john terry (centre), gary cahill (left) and branislav ivanovic celebrate chelsea's goalless draw at arsenal  arsenal 1997 98 lee dixon, tony adams, steve bould/martin keown, nigel winterburn  these rear gunners might have been getting a little long in the tooth, but it didn’t stop them delivering the double for arsene wenger in his first full season in english football they conceded 33 premier league goals along the way as they pipped manchester united to the title tony adams was the main man in a fiercely solid unit that had been forged under george graham they knew each other’s game inside out and few defences down the years could match this one for experience and knowhow (from left) steve bould, tony adams, nigel winterburn and lee dixon celebrate the title  arsenal 2003 04 lauren, kolo toure, sol campbell, ashley cole  six years on and it was an entirely new arsenal backline that will forever be lauded for their contribution to the invicibles, wenger’s team that amazingly went unbeaten on their way to the title in 2004 the gunners conceded only 26 goals in the process as they finished 11 points clear of chelsea campbell had succeeded adams as the kingpin and they had more attack minded full backs in cole and lauren, but the old defensive steel was as strong as ever lauren, kolo toure, sol campbell and ashley cole (not pictured) formed one of the league's best defences  campbell played alongside toure in the season arsenal went unbeaten as cole and lauren (right) confront phil neville after their side's infamous 0 0 draw with manchester united at old trafford in 2003  chelsea 2004 05 paulo ferreira, john terry, william gallas, ricardo carvalho  no team in premier league history has conceded fewer goals than mourinho’s side in his first season in england after the portuguese coach moved to stamford bridge fresh from his champions league triumph with porto chelsea’s defence was breached just 15 times as they won the title with 95 points, another premier league record mourinho brought ferreira and carvalho with him from porto and the effect was instant william gallas and john terry celebrate after the latter scored for chelsea in a 4 1 win against west ham  manchester united 1998 99 gary neville, jaap stam, ronny johnsen, denis irwin  united’s treble winners were not the meanest by any stretch, letting in 37 goals in 1999 compared with the 17 conceded by nearest challengers arsenal but the attacking instincts of sir alex ferguson’s side always meant it was going to be a case of ‘we’ll score more goals than you’, as was evident in the two 3 3 draws with barcelona that season ferguson has since said that irwin would be the only certain inclusion in a best xi picked from his time at old trafford, while selling stam was arguably his biggest regret either way, this back four deserves their place in the hall of fame on the basis of the club’s treble achievement jaap staam (centre) and gary neville (right), pictured with david beckham and dwight yorke (top), formed half of united's treble winning defence denis irwin played at left back with ronny johnsen partnering stam  manchester united 2006 07, 2007 08, 2008 09: gary neville, rio ferdinand, nemanja vidic, patrice evra  this was an altogether more compact united, conceding an average of 24 goals on their way to winning the title three years in a row has there ever been a better bit of january transfer business than the two deals united completed in 2006 to sign vidic and evra from spartak moscow and monaco respectively? vidic teamed up with the majestic ferdinand to forge one of the great central defensive partnerships, playing together in three champions league finals, while neville was still going strong at right back nani's celebration is overlooked by patrice evra, nemanja vidic and rio ferdinand in the summer of 2007  ferdinand's partnership with vidic helped manchester united to successive titles in 2007, 2008 and 2009  manchester city 20011 12: pablo zabaleta, vincent kompany, joleon lescott, aleksandar kolarov  manchester city’s success in conceding only 29 goals was ultimately crucial in snatching the title away from united on goal difference after an unforgettable final day of the season in 2012 kompany, who lifted the trophy, was well on his way to establishing himself as a city legend, as was zabaleta both players had been signed by mark hughes, along with lescott, but the defensive nous of italian roberto mancini helped turn city into a more solid unit before he brought in the combative kolarov from lazio vincent kompany is mobbed by his defensive partner aleksandar kolarov after scoring against liverpool 
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