This week Arsenal statistician Josh James takes a look at some of the stats to come out of Saturday's north London derby.
Saturday's win over Tottenham was the 33rd time in Premier League history the Gunners have scored five or more in a game, and the third time it’s been done against Spurs.
On average the team notch at least five goals every 23.8 games in Premier League history. This figure was once every 86 games before Arsène Wenger took over - by way of comparison the record is once every 19.7 matches during his 16 years in charge.
Saturday's game was also notable for featuring five different goalscorers - it's only the ninth time in the Premier League Arsenal have managed this (not including own goals).
It was the Club's third 5-2 win since the league was set up in 1992. Apart from Tottenham, who have been on the wrong end of that scoreline twice in a row, West Brom were also beaten 5-2, back in 2002.
Prior to the Premier League era, the season in which Arsenal scored five or more in a league fixture the most times was 1934/35, when George Allison’s side racked up 10 such wins, including an 8-1 and two 8-0 thumpings. They completed a hat-trick of league titles that season.
At the other end of the spectrum, Arsenal have conceded five or more in Premier League fixtures just twice – both to Manchester United (6-1 in 2000/01 and 8-2 last season).
After 18 games in all competitions this season, Arsenal have scored 43 goals, and the rate of 2.39 per game is higher than in any previous campaign under Wenger.
| Date | Opposition | Venue | Score | Scorers |
| 1993/94 | ||||
| Mar 5, 1994 | Ipswich Town | A | 5-1 | Wright 3, Parlour, Youds (og) |
| 1994/95 | ||||
| Apr 1, 1995 | Norwich City | H | 5-1 | Hartson 2, Dixon, Merson, Newman (og) |
| 1997/98 | ||||
| Oct 4, 1997 | Barnsley | H | 5-0 | Bergkamp 2, Parlour, Platt, Wright |
| Apr 18, 1998 | Wimbledon | H | 5-0 | Adams, Overmars, Bergkamp, Petit, Wreh |
| 1998/99 | ||||
| Feb 20, 1999 | Leicester City | H | 5-0 | Anelka 3, Parlour 2 |
| Apr 19, 1999 | Wimbledon | H | 5-1 | Parlour, Vieira, Bergkamp, Kanu, Thatcher (og) |
| Apr 24, 1999 | Middlesbrough | A | 6-1 | Overmars, Anelka 2, Kanu 2, Vieira |
| 1999/2000 | ||||
| Nov 20, 1999 | Middlesbrough | H | 5-1 | Overmars 3, Bergkamp 2 |
| 2000/2001 | ||||
| Aug 26, 2000 | Charlton Athletic | H | 5-3 | Vieira 2, Henry 2, Silvinho |
| Oct 28, 2000 | Manchester City | H | 5-0 | Cole, Bergkamp, Wiltord, Henry 2 |
| Dec 9, 2000 | Newcastle United | H | 5-0 | Henry, Parlour 3, Kanu |
| Dec 26, 2000 | Leicester City | H | 6-1 | Henry 3, Vieira, Ljungberg, Adams |
| 2002/2003 | ||||
| Aug 27, 2002 | West Brom | H | 5-2 | Cole, Lauren, Wiltord 2, Aliadiere |
| Feb 22, 2003 | Manchester City | A | 5-1 | Bergkamp, Pires, Henry, Campbell, Vieira |
| May 7, 2003 | Southampton | H | 6-1 | Pires 3, Pennant 3 |
| 2003/2004 | ||||
| Apr 16, 2004 | Leeds United | H | 5-0 | Pires, Henry 4 |
| 2004/2005 | ||||
| Aug 22, 2004 | Middlesbrough | H | 5-3 | Henry 2, Bergkamp, Pires, Reyes |
| Nov 13, 2004 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 5-4 | Henry, Lauren, Vieira, Ljungberg, Pires |
| Feb 14, 2005 | Crystal Palace | H | 5-1 | Bergkamp, Reyes, Henry 2, Vieira |
| May 11, 2005 | Everton | H | 7-0 | Van Persie, Pires 2, Vieira, Edu, Bergkamp, Flamini |
| 2005/2006 | ||||
| Jan 14, 2006 | Middlesbrough | H | 7-0 | Henry 3, Senderos, Pires, Gilberto, Hleb |
| Apr 1, 2006 | Aston Villa | H | 5-0 | Adebayor, Henry 2, van Persie, Diaby |
| 2006/2007 | ||||
| Dec 23, 2006 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 6-2 | Gilberto, Adebayor, Flamini, van Persie 2, Hleb |
| 2007/2008 | ||||
| Sept 22, 2007 | Derby County | H | 5-0 | Fabregas, Diaby, Adebayor 3 |
| Apr 28, 2008 | Derby County | A | 6-2 | Adebayor 3, Walcott, Bendtner, van Persie |
| 2009/2010 | ||||
| Aug 15, 2009 | Everton | A | 6-1 | Gallas, Vermaelen, Fabregas 2, Denilson, Eduardo |
| Oct 4, 2009 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 6-2 | Vermaelen, Fabregas, Arshavin, van Persie, Walcott, Bendtner |
| 2010/2011 | ||||
| Aug 21, 2010 | Blackpool | H | 6-0 | Walcott 3, Arshavin, Chamakh, Diaby |
| 2011/2012 | ||||
| Oct 30, 2011 | Chelsea | A | 5-3 | Van Persie 3, Santos, Walcott |
| Feb 4, 2012 | Blackburn | H | 7-1 | Van Persie 3, Chamberlain 2, Arteta, Dann (og) |
| Feb 26, 2012 | Tottenham | H | 5-2 | Sagna, van Persie, Rosicky, Walcott 2 |
| 2012/2013 | ||||
| Sept 15, 2012 | Southampton | H | 6-1 | Hooiveld (og), Podolski, Gervinho 2, Clyne (og), Walcott |
| Nov 17, 2012 | Tottenham | H | 5-2 | Mertesacker, Podolski, Giroud, Cazorla, Walcott |
The weekend's north London derby was the fourth time in the last three years that Arsenal have beaten Tottenham by a three-goal margin. By way of contrast, Arsenal have lost a north London derby by three or more goals just once in the past 29 years - a 5-1 League Cup defeat in 2008.
The victory took the Gunners' overall record in the fixture to P169 W71 D45 L53 F265 A229. Arsenal have led the head-to-head battle with Spurs since December 26, 1983 when they pulled ahead with a 4-2 win at White Hart Lane, to make it 40 wins to 39.
Saturday was the sixth instance of scoring five or more in a game against Tottenham (previously in 2012, 2004, 1978, 1935 and 1934) and it was only the eighth time in the 169 matches that seven or more goals have been scored. Half of those have been recorded since 2004.
There has been an average of 2.9 goals per game in north London derby history, yet over the past 17 fixtures (since 2007) the average is 4.4 per game, and only three clean sheets have been kept in those 17 matches.
Andre Villa-Boas also becomes the eighth Tottenham manager against whom Arsène Wenger has recorded a victory (following Gerry Francis, George Graham, Glenn Hoddle, David Pleat, Martin Jol, Juande Ramos and Harry Redknapp).
Wenger's overall record in the north London derby is: P39, W18, D16, L5, F79, A51, with those 79 goals being scored by 36 different players (not including two own goals).
| P | W | D | L | F | A | |
| League | 151 | 62 | 41 | 48 | 239 | 208 |
| FA Cup | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 5 |
| League Cup | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 19 | 16 |
| Charity Shield | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 169 | 71 | 45 | 53 | 265 | 229 |
| 6/3/1935 | Tottenham 0, Arsenal 6 | League |
| 23/12/1978 | Tottenham 0, Arsenal 5 | League |
| 20/10/1934 | Arsenal 5, Tottenham 1 | League |
| 16/9/1967 | Arsenal 4, Tottenham 0 | League |
| 7/2/1953 | Arsenal 4, Tottenham 0 | League |
| 7/5/1927 | Tottenham 0, Arsenal 4 | League |
| 17/11/2012 | Arsenal 5, Tottenham 2 | League |
| 26/2/2012 | Arsenal 5, Tottenham 2 | League |
| 21/9/2010 | Tottenham 1, Arsenal 4 | League Cup |
| 31/1/1959 | Tottenham 1, Arsenal 4 | League |
| 10/10/1953 | Tottenham 1, Arsenal 4 | League |
| 31/10/2009 | Arsenal 3, Tottenham 0 | League |
| 2/12/2006 | Arsenal 3, Tottenham 0 | League |
| 16/11/2002 | Arsenal 3, Tottenham 0 | League |
| 8/1/1949 | Arsenal 3, Tottenham 0 | FA Cup |
Per Mertesacker scored his first Gunners goal on Saturday, becoming the 21st member of the current first-team squad to have at least one goal to his name, and the 475th goalscorer in the history of the Club.
There have been 811 Arsenal players, meaning 58.6 per cent of the Club's players scored at least once, and 73 of them (nine per cent) scored only once.
Per broke his duck during his 41st appearance, leaving only three outfield members of the first-team squad yet to score for the Club. They are: Francis Coquelin (30 games), Emmanuel Frimpong (16 games) and Carl Jenkinson (26 games) - whose recent effort against Reading was awarded to Theo Walcott.
Mertesacker is the fourth German to score for the Gunners, after Stefan Malz, Alberto Mendez and Lukas Podolski.
Arsenal have now had 13 different goalscorers this season - not including own goals - which compares to 18 for the whole of last term.
Stats correct as at November 21, 2012.
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 21 Nov 2012
