The London League

This week our statistician looks at our record in London derbies.

Arsenal complete their London derby programme in the Premier League on Tuesday night, with their status as 'London League' winners already secure.

The Gunners have won seven of their nine derby matches in the Premier League this season - beating Crystal Palace, Fulham and Tottenham home and away and taking 22 points from a possible 27 in capital fixtures.

That's one more point than Chelsea - who have played all 10 derbies this season - and 12 more than Spurs, who have two derbies left to play.

Arsenal won this particular mini-league last season too, and have now had the best record among London teams 12 times in the last 18 years.

Should Arsenal win on Tuesday evening, it will be the first time in the Premier League era that any London side has won eight derby matches in a single season, and 25 points would be a record haul for London sides against opposition from the capital.

Overall Arsenal have won more Premier League London derbies than any other team - 106 from 203 games - ahead of Chelsea (102) and Tottenham (64).

Those 106 wins have come against eight different teams, with West Ham on the receiving end most often - 22 of the victories have been against the Hammers, from 35 meetings.

Arsenal's first Premier League derby win was against Chelsea, back on October 3, 1992. George Graham's side triumphed 2-1 at Highbury with Paul Merson and Ian Wright both on target in front of 27,780.

That was one of only three derby wins in the inaugural Premier League season, though the fewest wins against London teams in a single campaign was two, in 2008/09.

Arsenal's overall success rate in derbies is 52.2 per cent. Looking purely at the figures during Arsène Wenger's tenure, the win rate stands at 56.6 per cent - slightly down on his total league win percentage of 57.7.

The Gunners have played at least eight London derbies in each of the 22 Premier League seasons to date, and played as many as 12 in 1994/95.

Overall, London derbies account for 24.1 per cent of all games Arsenal have played in the Premier League era, highlighting the importance of having a strong record against local rivals.

Arsenal also have the best all-time record in the Premier League among London teams, with 455 wins from 843 games, for 1,586 points at an average of 1.88 per game.

On the subject of London, Arsenal could win the FA Cup this season without once leaving the capital.

The first four FA Cup matches this season were all at home, with Saturday's semi-final - and of course next month's final - being staged at Wembley.

Arsenal have won the cup once before after playing all their fixtures in London, back in 1950. That was the last time the Gunners were drawn at home in the first four rounds, and they beat Chelsea in the semi-final after a replay, when both games were staged at White Hart Lane.

The match against Hull on May 17 will be a record-equalling 18th appearance in the FA Cup final for Arsenal, and the Gunners will also be looking to tie Manchester United's record of 11 wins. In addition Arsène Wenger will hope to become only the second manager in the modern era (after Sir Alex Ferguson) to lift the trophy five times.

Arsenal needed penalties at the weekend to eliminate the holders Wigan Athletic. It was the club's 18th penalty shoot-out, and the 11th win. Wenger's side have now won seven of their last eight shoot-outs.

The shoot-out record is especially good in the FA Cup. Arsenal won the 2005 final on penalties (the first final to be decided that way) and have converted each of their last 13 spot-kicks in shoot-outs in the competition. Indeed Arsenal haven't missed a penalty in the FA Cup - including shoot-outs and during a match - since February 2007, when they missed two in the 3-1 win at Bolton.

Arsenal have scored 70 penalties and missed 27 in their 18 shoot-outs, for a conversion rate of 72 per cent. Over the past eight shoot-outs though, the success rate is 83 per cent.

The last 22 successful penalties in shoot-outs have been scored by 22 different players, and, with half an eye on the World Cup, the last 11 taken by Englishmen were all netted (going back to January 2000).

Lukasz Fabianski is the third Arsenal keeper (after David Seaman and Manuel Almunia) to be successful in more than one shoot-out.

Stats correct as at April 14, 2014