Youth at the Emirates

This week our statistician Josh James looks at our youth teams' records at Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal's youth team made it through to the semi-final of the FA Youth Cup on Monday after extending their 100 per cent record at Emirates Stadium.

The under-18s beat Everton 3-1 at Emirates, making it 11 wins out of 11 for all youth teams since the stadium opened in 2006.

It's the first time the young Gunners have made it through to the last four of the competition since 2009, when they went on to lift the trophy. They will meet Chelsea in the semi-finals - over two legs - and again the home match, the second leg, will be played at the Emirates. No date has been set for the fixture yet, though the tie must be played by April 5.

The other semi-final will be between Reading or Liverpool and Fulham or Huddersfield Town.

Arsenal are looking to win their eighth FA Youth Cup, and their fourth since the turn of the century. Only Manchester United (10) have won the cup more times than the Gunners.

Arsenal have won all but one of their eight previous appearances in the final, triumphing in 1966, 1971, 1988, 1994, 2000, 2001 and 2009. 

Carl Laraman's side will look to make the most from home advantage in the semi-final, as Emirates Stadium has been a fortress for the youth teams over the years.

As well as five previous FA Youth Cup ties at the stadium, Arsenal have also played one Under-18 Academy League final, one NextGen Series quarter-final and four Barclays Premier Under-21 League games - winning each of them.

The first time an Arsenal youth team stepped out on the Emirates turf was during the first season at the stadium, marking the occasion with a 3-2 FA Youth Cup sixth-round victory over Cardiff City.

That game - played in front of 11,610 - was notable for witnessing the first hat-trick scored at Emirates Stadium.

Captain Jay Simpson, who now plays for Buriram United in Thailand, claimed the match ball as the Gunners saw off a young Cardiff side, who featured Aaron Ramsey in their midfield.

The Gunners team included Kieran Gibbs, while Wojciech Szczesny was an unused sub. Lee Butcher, the starting goalkeeper, saved a penalty.

It set up a semi-final with Manchester United, and the first leg at Emirates set an attendance record for the FA Youth Cup which still stands. Some 38,187 were there to witness a 1-0 win for Arsenal. Gibbs - playing on the wing - scored the only goal against a United side featuring Danny Welbeck up font and Tom Cleverley at left back.

In fact there were more people at Emirates for that game than there were for the Tottenham first team's UEFA Cup match being played the same night at White Hart Lane.

Since then Arsenal's youth have played nine more games at Emirates, with current first-team squad stars Jack Wilshere, Serge Gnabry and Ryo among the scorers.

In this season's FA Youth Cup, the Gunners' 16 goals from four games have been shared between five players. Striker Chuba Akpom, who made his first-team debut in September, leads the way with four while Alex Iwobi, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Dan Crowley and Jack Jebb have three each.

Torquay United, Peterborough, Charlton and Everton have all been knocked out so far during the run.

Should Arsenal make it through to the final, that too will be played over two legs, with the home leg again at Emirates.

 The young Gunners are also fighting for honours on several other fronts this season.

The under-19 side have progressed to the quarter-finals of the inaugural Uefa Youth League, and will take on Barcelona - in Spain - in a one-off match on Tuesday (March 18). The winners will qualify for the semi-final and final weekend, to be held in Switzerland from April 11 to 14.

Another new title to aim for this season is the Barclays Under-21 Premier League Cup, and Steve Gatting's side have made it into the last four of this competition.

After three successive 1-0 away wins in the previous rounds (against Norwich, Fulham and Chelsea) Arsenal will take on Reading this Saturday (March 15). A one-off home tie, it will kick off at 3pm at Boreham Wood FC. The winners will take their place in a two-legged final against either Manchester City or Burnley. Should Arsenal make it, the home leg will be played at Emirates Stadium.

In all, the youth sides are currently competing in five different competitions - the three cup competitions discussed above, as well as the Barclays Under-21 Premier League and the Barclays Under-18 Premier League.

So it's not surprising that 73 different players have represented the Club at all levels from under-18 through to the first team so far this season.

Looking purely at the Academy League and FA Youth Cup (the two competitions run at under-18 level) midfielder Jack Jebb leads in terms of appearances, as he did last season, with 20 across both competitions. The 18-year-old Londoner is also joint top of the scoring charts with six goals.

The last player to score 20-plus goals in a season for Arsenal's under-18s was Benik Afobe in 2009/10. Now aged 21, Afobe is still on Arsenal's books but is currently on loan at Sheffield Wednesday where he has scored once in six outings.

Talking of academy products out on loan, Chuks Aneke continues to turn heads in League One for Crewe. He netted against Walsall on Tuesday night - his 14th goal of the season and 12th in his last 18 games.

Akpom himself is also currently on loan in League One, with Coventry City, but is still eligible to represent Arsenal in the Youth Cup while out on loan.

 Stats correct as at March 12, 2014