Feature

Cups of plenty

Behind the Numbers - The Emirates Cup

Ahead of this weekend's Emirates Cup, our statistician takes a look at Arsenal's record in various pre-season friendly tournaments.

EMIRATES CUP

The Emirates Cup is back for its sixth staging this summer, with the Gunners looking for their fourth success in the competition. That would make it the Club's most successful pre-season tournament, surpassing the three Amsterdam Tournament wins and three Makita International Tournament victories.

Arsenal have lost only one of the 10 matches played in the Emirates Cup (to Juventus in 2008) and lifted the trophy in 2007, 2009 and 2010.

"Jack Wilshere is the only player to have appeared in each of the last eight Emirates Cup fixtures"

Arsenal's 17 goals in the competition's history have been scored by 13 different players - Robin van Persie top scored with three.

In those 10 games, 46 different players represented Arsenal, with nine of them playing just once. Bacary Sagna and Emmanuel Eboue lead the way with nine outings each. Sagna missed out against Rangers while Eboue didn't play against AC Milan in 2010. Both players can add to their tallies this season, albeit Eboue for Galatasaray of course.

Jack Wilshere is the only player to have appeared in each of the last eight Emirates Cup fixtures.

Benik Afobe is the only Arsenal player to have played Emirates Cup football but not represent the first team in a senior fixture.

Thierry Henry's only Emirates Cup action came while he was playing for New York Red Bulls. He helped them win the trophy in 2011.

Arsenal's Emirates Cup record

Year P W D L F A Pos
2007 2 2 0 0 4 2 1st
2008 2 1 0 1 1 1 3rd
2009 2 2 0 0 5 1 1st
2010 2 1 1 0 4 3 1st
2011 2 0 2 0 3 3 3rd
Total 10 6 3 1 17 10  

 

Arsenal goalscorers at Emirates Cup

Arsenal goalscorers at Emirates Cup

 

 

Arsenal appearances at Emirates Cup

Arsenal appearances at Emirates Cup

 

Including Arsenal, 14 different teams have taken part in the competition, though none have averaged more than two goals a game. Hamburg and Celtic each scored four goals from their two games in the 2008 and 2010 tournaments respectively.

The most goals scored by a team in a single tournament is five, scored by Arsenal in 2009. Back then each goal was worth an extra point, as well any earned for wins or draws. That rule was scrapped for the last tournament but will be in effect again this year. Overall, the Gunners have scored an average of 1.7 goals per Emirates Cup game.

The highest scoring Emirates Cup was the 2010 edition, when Arsenal, Lyon, Celtic and Milan netted 13 between them in the four games.

The overall average for goals per game in the five years of Emirates Cup football is 2.55, and the highest scoring game was Arsenal 3, Celtic 2 in 2010. No team has scored more than three goals in a game from the 20 fixtures so far.

There have been 27 goals in the Sunday fixtures compared to 24 in the Saturday games, with the fourth fixture slot of the weekend proving the most fruitful for goals - 14 from five matches. There has yet to be a goalless draw in the cup.

Arsenal have claimed three titles, Hamburg has one and New York Red Bulls are the current holders. Napoli will be the fourth Italian team to compete, the previous three (Inter, Juventus and AC Milan) all finished bottom of the group in their respective years.

 

Most goals per game (by team)

Most goals per game

 

 

Total goals per tournament

Total goals per tournament

 

 

Total goals by kick-off

Total goals by kick-off

 

AMSTERDAM TOURNAMENT

Only hosts Ajax have appeared more often than Arsenal in the 29 editions of the Amsterdam Tournament. The Gunners have been invited to participate in the prestigious pre-season tournament six times, winning three - again, a figure only Ajax can better.

"Only hosts Ajax have appeared more often than Arsenal in the Amsterdam Tournament"

Arsenal first entered in 1979 - the fifth staging of the competition - and finished third, behind AZ Alkmaar and Ajax, but ahead of Hamburg.

The Gunners didn't return until 2000, and this time were last behind Barcelona, Ajax and Lazio. Lithuanian strike Tomas Danilevicius scored the Gunners' only goal of the tournament in the 2-1 defeat to Barcelona. The two losses that season remain the only two the club have suffered in 12 Amsterdam Tournament matches.

Another fourth-placed finish in 2004 was followed by three titles in four years between 2005 and 2008.

Arsenal's Amsterdam Tournament record

Year P W D L F A Pos
1979 2 1 1 0 3 0 3rd
2000 2 0 0 2 1 4 4th
2004 2 0 2 0 0 0 4th
2005 2 2 0 0 3 1 1st
2007 2 2 0 0 3 1 1st
2008 2 1 1 0 4 3 1st
Total 12 6 4 2 14 9  

MAKITA INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT

The Makita International Tournament was held annually in England between 1988 and 1994, with the Gunners winning three times from five participations.

The inaugural tournament (known simply as the Wembley International Tournament) was held at the old national stadium - with Tottenham Hotspur, AC Milan and Bayern Munich completing the line-up.

George Graham's men beat Spurs 4-0 in front of 30,000 on the Saturday - Paul Merson, Alan Smith and Brian Marwood (twice) were on target - before Bayern Munich went down 3-0 on Sunday. Smith netted two more while Lee Dixon also scored as Arsenal claimed the trophy.

They retained the title the next year, with 1-0 wins over Porto and Liverpool before losing to Sampdoria in the 1990 final. That tournament is probably best remembered for Anders Limpar announcing his arrival at the Club with a fine goal in the semi-final win over Aston Villa.

Highbury staged the 1991 version, with Sampdoria again claiming the title on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the final.

After missing the 1992 and 1993 editions, held at Elland Road and White Hart Lane respectively, the Makita International Tournament returned to Highbury in 1994. Arsenal won this - the final-ever competition - after beating Napoli 1-0 in the final thanks to an Ian Wright penalty. Attendances had fallen to 16,000 (on the Saturday) and 13,000 (on the Sunday) for this last-ever staging of the tournament.

In 10 games in the Makita overall, Arsenal only conceded two goals (both to Sampdoria) and only lost once (not including penalty shoot-outs).

Arsenal's Makita International Tournament record

Year P W D L F A Pos
1988 2 2 0 0 7 0 1st
1989 2 2 0 0 2 0 1st
1990 2 1 0 1 2 1 2nd
1991 2 1 1 0 2 1 2nd
1994 2 1 1 0 1 0 1st
Total 10 7 2 1 14 2  

OTHER PRE-SEASON TOURNAMENTS

The last match Arsenal played was against Urawa Reds on July 26, for the Saitama City Cup. Chuba Akpom's late goal earned the trophy for Arsenal, with a 2-1 win.

It was the ninth staging of the competition, and the Gunners are only the third European team (after Barcelona and Bayern Munich) to claim the silverware. Lukas Podolski scored Arsenal's first goal last Friday, to add to the two he scored for Bayern in the 2008 edition.

Many of the Gunners' one-off pre-season friendlies over the past few years have resulted in trophies, but there have also been a few round-robin tournaments, in the mould of the Emirates Cup.

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These include the Belgrade International Tournament in 1980 and the Bielfeld Tournament of 1984.

Playing against Vasco de Gama of Brazil and hosts FC Partizan in the Belgrade tournament, Arsenal finished fourth out of four teams after a 2-1 defeat to Vasco, and then losing on penalties to Belgrade after a goalless draw.

But the Gunners emerged victorious at the Bielfeld Tournament, thanks to a 3-1 win over Greek side Heraklis and a 1-0 victory over the host team.

Stats correct as at July 30, 2013. All fixtures subject to change