United are currently joint fourteenth in the all time unbeaten record table for English league clubs.
The data, which includes teams from the Premier League, has seen Scunthorpe exceed half a season without defeat; a run that stretches back to November 23, 2013.They currently share fourteenth position with Middlesbrough and Bristol City, the latter of which created their run in the 1905/06 season, while the former team, Boro, reached their feat in 1973/74.
Should the Iron manage to see out this League Two season, they will reach 30 games without defeat; putting them in joint ninth place with Liverpool, Leeds, Burnley and Arsenal. If that occurred, a run leading into next season would solidify their place within the top seven.
United still have a long way to go to reach the number one spot though - with Arsenal remaining unbeaten completely throughout the 2003/04 season. That coupled with a mini run in the previous and successive seasons saw their total unbeaten record reach 49 – six more than the team in second place.
The Gunners will have been disappointed that run didn’t reach half a century, particularly if you revert back to the start of their run. Drawing 2-2 at home to Leeds at Highbury, a late strike from Mark Viduka in the 88th minute goes down as their last defeat before embarking on the run. Maintaining a draw for that game would have seen the figure extended to 57.
It did look like Huddersfield Town would get close to that figure though, when they went on a mesmerising run in January 2011 – reaching the play-offs. Despite losing the play-off final (a game which hasn’t been counted), the Terriers continued their run into the following campaign, where it would continue until mid-November, the run stopping at 43 games.
Nottingham Forest and Chelsea are the only other teams to get into the 40’s, with 42 and 40 respectively, while the team in fifth position – Leeds United – had 34 games without defeat to their name in 1968/69.
Avoiding defeat on Saturday against Torquay United would see the Iron go joint thirteenth with Coventry City, Stoke City, Nottingham Forest and Wigan Athletic on 25 games without defeat.