“One-nil to the Arsenal” rang out from the away end at the City Ground on Sunday, after Noni Madueke’s deflected strike was enough to beat Nottingham Forest.

It’s a chant that goes back to the George Graham era, and Mikel Arteta’s side are giving the fans plenty of reasons to sing it again. The win at Forest was Arsenal’s 18th victory by a single goal over the last two seasons, more than any other club in Europe’s top five leagues.

Plenty of those have finished 1-0, and Gary Lineker thinks he knows why.

Gary Lineker credits David Raya for Arsenal’s 1-0 wins

Speaking on The Rest Is Football, Lineker reeled off every 1-0 win Arsenal have recorded in the last 365 days.

“13 1-0 wins against Fulham, Palace, Everton, Chelsea, Brighton, Sporting, Newcastle obviously, Atletico, West Ham, Burnley, Villa, Napoli, and Forest,” he said. “That’s incredible, isn’t it? I mean, it just shows you how strong they are defensively and how good the goalkeeper is as well.”

The defence gets plenty of credit, but Lineker is right to single out David Raya. When you win by such fine margins, one save can be the difference between three points and one, and Raya keeps making them. At Forest, Arsenal were still level when he got down well at his near post to deny Dan Ndoye after a lightning-quick counter-attack.

It’s why he’s won the Premier League Golden Glove for three seasons in a row, and he’s earned plenty of praise from some of the best goalkeepers the league has seen. No goalkeeper has ever won it four times in a row, and on this form, Raya has a real chance of being the first.

He’ll need to be at his best again on Wednesday night. Arsenal face Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena, and against one of the best attacks in Europe, he’s likely to be far busier than he was at Forest.