This week our statistician Josh James looks at Arsenal's record against local rivals.

Arsenal play their second consecutive Premier League London derby this weekend, and each of the next three home league fixtures are also against London teams. So this week we take a look at the Gunners' all-time Premier League record in London derbies.

Arsenal sit proudly on top of the all-time 'London-only Premier League' table, having played 185 derbies in all since the league was established in 1992, winning 93. The Club's full record in derby matches is P185, W93, D53, L39, F308, A177.  

Those matches have come against eight different London-based teams (five of which are in the Premier League this season).

In fact more than a quarter (26 per cent) of Arsenal's league fixtures this season will be London derbies, so it's encouraging to know that Arsenal have the best record among all the London teams for Premier League derby matches.

The Gunners have taken 332 points from derbies, ahead of Chelsea (330), Tottenham (228) and West Ham United (178). Arsenal are also the top scorers in such matches (308 goals) and have the best goal difference (+131).

In all there have been 527 London derbies in Premier League history, which accounts for 6.7 per cent of the total games played in the league.

Arsenal have also taken more Premier League points overall than any other London team - 40 more than Chelsea and 361 more than Tottenham.

All-time London derby league table - Premier League
Pos Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Arsenal 185 93 53 39 308 177 131 332
2 Chelsea 186 92 54 40 307 185 122 330
3 Tottenham Hotspur 185 56 60 69 234 257 -23 228
4 West Ham United 150 48 34 68 165 226 -61 178
5 Wimbledon 78 23 22 33 85 113 -28 91
6 Fulham 99 20 29 50 97 156 -59 89
7 Charlton Athletic 76 23 15 38 90 127 -37 84
8 Queens Park Rangers 53 15 16 22 55 67 -12 61
9 Crystal Palace 42 9 13 20 38 71 -33 40
London clubs' all-time Premier League records
Team Played Won Drawn Lost Points
Arsenal 778 417 207 154 1,458
Chelsea 778 406 200 172 1,418
Tottenham Hotspur 778 297 206 275 1,097
West Ham United 622 205 160 257 775
Fulham 424 133 121 170 520
Wimbledon 316 99 94 123 391
Charlton Athletic 304 93 82 129 361
Queens Park Rangers 208 69 48 91 255
Crystal Palace 160 37 49 74 160

So Arsenal average 1.79 points per game from Premier League derbies, which is slightly less than the average points they have taken from non-derby matches (1.9 per game).

The Gunners also score fewer goals in derby matches compared to the other fixtures - 1.66 goals a game in derbies compared to 1.76 in other matches.

These stats would appear to add some weight to the argument that it's tougher for London clubs to win the league, due to the intensity and number of local derbies they have to play.

However, it's worth remembering that in each of Arsenal's past two Double-winning campaigns (1997/98 and 2001/02), there were six London clubs in the top flight, as there are again this year.

When we break down the results by opposition, it's clear that fortunes in London derbies vary wildly depending on the individual fixture. For example, Arsenal average a very healthy 2.38 points per game against Charlton in the Premier League era (16 matches) but have taken less than half that (1.1 points per game) from the 10 Premier League matches against Queens Park Rangers.

In fact, QPR are the only London team that Arsenal do not have a superior record against, having won just twice against them in the Premier League, and never away from home.

As for this Saturday's opponents West Ham, Arsenal have played 32 Premier League derbies against them, winning 19 - more than against any other London side. The team also average an impressive 1.88 points per game from the games at Upton Park.

Arsenal's Premier League record against other London clubs
Home Away Total
P W D L F A PPG P W D L F A PPG P W D L F A PPG
Chelsea 21 11 6 4 32 27 1.86 20 7 6 7 27 25 1.35 41 18 12 11 59 52 1.61
Tottenham Hotspur 20 11 7 2 38 20 2 20 4 10 6 28 28 1.1 40 15 17 8 66 48 1.55
West Ham United 16 11 1 4 25 9 2.13 16 8 6 2 23 10 1.88 32 19 7 6 48 19 2
Fulham 11 8 3 0 24 7 2.45 11 7 1 3 20 8 2 22 15 4 3 44 15 2.23
Wimbledon 8 2 3 3 13 8 1.13 8 5 1 2 17 8 2 16 7 4 5 30 16 1.56
Charlton Athletic 8 6 1 1 22 8 2.38 8 6 1 1 14 4 2.38 16 12 2 2 36 12 2.38
Queens Park Rangers 5 2 2 1 5 3 1.6 5 0 3 2 4 7 0.6 10 2 5 3 9 10 1.1
Crystal Palace 4 3 0 1 10 3 2.25 4 2 2 0 6 2 2 8 5 2 1 16 5 2.13
Total 93 54 23 15 169 85 1.99 92 39 30 23 139 92 1.6 185 93 53 39 308 177 1.79

In 11 of the 20 Premier League seasons so far (55 per cent), Arsenal have had the best record in London derbies, including nine seasons in a row between 1996/97 and 2004/05. They have also finished as the top London team in the table on 11 occasions, most recently last season.

There have been five instances of London teams remaining unbeaten in derbies for an entire season - and four of them were recorded by Arsenal. In the title seasons of 1997/98 and 2003/04 Arsenal didn't lose a London derby, nor in 2002/03. In 2004/05 both Arsenal and Chelsea remained unbeaten in derby matches.

The Gunners also hold the all-time record for the longest unbeaten run in top-flight league London derbies, a run of 35 matches.

The sequence lasted from November 4, 2001, when the Gunners lost 4-2 at home to Charlton, to August 21, 2005 and a 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge.

Unbeaten London derby run
Date Opposition Venue Score Result
Nov 17, 2001 Tottenham H away 1-1 draw
Dec 15, 2001 West Ham away 1-1 draw
Dec 26, 2001 Chelsea home 2-1 win
Feb 23, 2002 Fulham home 4-1 win
Apr 1, 2002 Charlton away 3-0 win
Apr 6, 2002 Tottenham H home 2-1 win
Apr 24, 2002 West Ham home 2-0 win
Aug 24, 2002 West Ham away 2-2 draw
Sep 1, 2002 Chelsea away 1-1 draw
Sep 14, 2002 Charlton away 3-0 win
Nov 3, 2002 Fulham away 1-0 win
Nov 16, 2002 Tottenham H home 3-0 win
Dec 15, 2002 Tottenham H away 1-1 draw
Jan 1, 2003 Chelsea home 3-2 win
Jan 19, 2003 West Ham home 3-1 win
Feb 1, 2003 Fulham home 2-1 win
Mar 2, 2003 Charlton home 2-0 win
Oct 18, 2003 Chelsea home 2-1 win
Oct 26, 2003 Charlton away 1-1 draw
Nov 8, 2003 Tottenham H home 2-1 win
Nov 30, 2003 Fulham home 0-0 draw
Feb 21, 2004 Chelsea away 2-1 win
Feb 28, 2004 Charlton home 2-1 win
Apr 25, 2004 Tottenham H away 2-2 draw
May 9, 2004 Fulham away 1-0 win
Sep 11, 2004 Fulham away 3-0 win
Oct 2, 2004 Charlton home 4-0 win
Nov 6, 2004 Crystal Palace away 1-1 draw
Nov 13, 2004 Tottenham H away 5-4 win
Dec 12, 2004 Chelsea home 2-2 draw
Dec 26, 2004 Fulham home 2-0 win
Jan 1, 2005 Charlton away 3-1 win
Feb 14, 2005 Crystal Palace home 5-1 win
April 20, 2005 Chelsea away 0-0 draw
April 25, 2005 Tottenham H home 1-0 win
Top side in London derbies
Season Top side in London derbies Pts
1992/93 Chelsea 19
1993/94 Arsenal 17
1994/95 QPR 21
1995/96 Tottenham 19
1996/97 Arsenal 15
1997/98 Arsenal 22
1998/99 Arsenal 21
1999/00 Arsenal 16
2000/01 Arsenal 15
2001/02 Arsenal 21
2002/03 Arsenal 24
2003/04 Arsenal 18
2004/05 Arsenal* 24
2005/06 Chelsea 19
2006/07 Chelsea 21
2007/08 Arsenal 21
2008/09 Tottenham 13
2009/10 Chelsea 19
2010/11 Chelsea 17
2011/12 Tottenham 14

* = ahead of Chelsea on goals scored

Stats correct as at October 4, 2012. With thanks to Opta.

Josh James also provides the stats for the Arsenal Analysis pages of the matchday programme.

Copyright 2013 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source 4 Oct 2012