Behind The Numbers: RVP's 50 at Emirates

This week our statistician Josh James looks at Robin van Persie's Emirates goalscoring record.

With his brace against Borussia Dortmund, Robin van Persie became the first player to score 50 goals at Emirates Stadium.

His second goal was actually his 51st at the venue – he's now made 88 appearances there (including 16 as a substitute). That relates to a goal every 1.7 games, compared to an overall strike rate of a goal every 2.2 matches during his Arsenal career as a whole.

The Dutchman first netted at Emirates on October 28, 2006 - a free-kick in a 1-1 draw with Everton. His next goal, like his 50th, was against German opposition in the Champions League – Hamburg – in a 3-1 win.

Thirty-five of the 51 goals (69 per cent) have come in the Premier League, 12 in the Champions League (24 per cent) and four in the FA Cup (7 per cent).

His best strike rate is actually in the FA Cup (one in one) followed by the Premier League (one in 1.7) then the Champions League (one in 1.8). He needs just one more league goal to make this his most prolific Premier League campaign at Emirates.

On average Van Persie plays 15.8 games per complete season at Emirates, scoring 8.4 goals. The most he's netted at Emirates in one season is 16 (2008/09) which was 80 per cent of his total goals tally that year.

That season was unusual though, as generally Robin has split his goals fairly evenly between home and away games. In the same timescale in which he has scored 51 goals at Emirates, he's netted 40 on the road (including one at Wembley).

Indeed 21 of his 38 goals (55 per cent) in 2011 have been scored away from home. That includes setting a new Premier League record for scoring in nine consecutive away matches (Jan 1, 2011 to May 22, 2011 inclusive).

Robin is one of 43 players to have scored for Arsenal at Emirates (not including own goals) and is 19 goals clear of second-placed scorer Cesc Fabregas.

The Dutchman leads the way in terms of both Premier League and Champions League goals at Emirates, but Nicklas Bendtner is the most prolific in the domestic cups, with six each in the FA Cup and Carling Cup.

Robin has scored in 36 (41 per cent) of the games he has played at the stadium, including one hat-trick and 13 braces.

Arsenal win 83 per cent of the Emirates games in which Robin scores, and 100 per cent when he scores more than once. Arsenal have lost just twice when Robin has been on target at Emirates (against Aston Villa last season and Manchester United in 2009).

He has appeared in 56 per cent of all matches played at Emirates Stadium, and scored 15 per cent of the team's total goals.

The stats show that the goals have actually been shared around at Emirates – 323 total goals (not including own goals) have been scored by 43 players, who have netted an average of 7.5 each.

Robin played for Arsenal for two seasons before the move to Emirates, and scored 12 goals at Highbury during that time. He is the only player who has reached double figures at both venues.

He played 40 times at our former home (though 23 of those were from the bench), meaning his goals came at a rate of one every 3.3 games there. His goals to starts ratio however was 1.41 - coincidentally exactly the same as his goals to starts ratio so far at Emirates.

Arsenal scored 4,039 goals in their 2,010 games at Highbury, and 22 players reached 50 or more goals at the venue. Thierry Henry led the way with 137, with Cliff Bastin the only other man to score a century or more.

Thierry's 137 included 114 in the league, from 125 appearances at an incredible rate of a goal every 1.1 games.

* This list only includes goals scored for Arsenal. Paul Merson and Frank Stapleton, for example, also scored against Arsenal at Highbury.

Josh James also provides the stats for the Arsenal Analysis pages of the matchday programme. To subscribe, or buy online, click here.