The 100 Club

This week our statistician looks at the players who have played 100 or more Premier League games for Arsenal.

Laurent Koscielny made his 100th Premier League appearance when he played against Cardiff City at the weekend - becoming the 41st Arsenal player to reach the milestone.

The French central defender made his Premier League debut three-and-a-half years ago, on the opening day of the 2010/11 season. He was sent off towards the end of that 1-1 draw against Liverpool at Anfield.

Koscielny's century consisted of 95 starts and just five sub appearances while he was also taken off in five games. Overall he played 8,221 minutes during the 100 matches, at an average of 82 minutes 13 seconds per appearance. In fact, no player has started more league games or spent longer on the pitch for Arsenal since he made his debut.

Koscielny has so far netted six goals in his Premier League career, including crucial strikes against West Bromwich Albion (in 2012) and Newcastle (in 2013) to ensure Champions League football the following season.

But it is, of course, at the other end of the pitch where he has especially impressed.

According to Opta stats Koscielny has won 524 duels, won 158 of 210 attempted tackles (a success rate of 75.24 per cent), made 47 blocks and 248 interceptions.

Nobody in the squad has won more tackles in the same timespan, or made more blocks, and Koscielny has 78 more interceptions than any other Arsenal player since he joined.

The Frenchman also leads the way in terms of clearances. He's made 568 in his Premier League career, nearly twice as many as any other Arsenal player over the past three-and-a-half seasons.

In addition he's conceded 92 fouls, received 15 bookings and has been sent off four times. He's also conceded five penalties. Opta also calculate he has taken 5,449 touches.

Arsenal have kept a clean sheet in nearly a third (32) of the 100 games Koscielny has featured in, and they have conceded 103 goals in that time.

He has played in 78.7 per cent of the league fixtures possible since his debut in 2010, and his record for the 100 games is: won 57, drawn 24, lost 19 for an average of 1.95 points per game.

In the 27 games Koscielny has missed since joining, Arsenal have taken 1.74 points per game.

He is the 744th player overall to reach 100 Premier League appearances, Ryan Giggs leads the way with 626.

Koscielny is the 11th French player to reach 100 Premier League outings for the Club, just one fewer than the number of English players in this particular '100 Club'. There are 15 different nationalities in all.

Koscielny is the 15th defender to reach the milestone; there are 12 midfielders, 11 forwards and three goalkeepers among the 41.

The France international marked the occasion of reaching three figures with a clean sheet. Players including Theo Walcott, Thierry Henry and Paul Merson celebrated their Premier League centuries with goals, while Kanu netted twice. Lauren trumped them all though, by winning the league at White Hart Lane on his 100th outing.

The average age of an Arsenal player when he plays his 100th Premier League game is 27 years and six months. However this includes the likes of David Seaman and Tony Adams, who had already played a number of first division matches before the Premier League was set up in 1992.

So, looking purely at those who made their Gunners debut during the Premier League era, the average age for a player making his 100th appearance is just under 27 years old - a year and two months younger than Laurent Koscielny.

Koscielny has now drawn level with Marc Overmars in terms of Premier League appearances, but is some way behind Ray Parlour who leads the way for the Gunners with 333. Next is David Seaman - 325 of his 564 overall games for the Club came in the Premier League, and he was the first to reach a century for Arsenal in the competition, back in 1995.

Eight of the 41 players on the list are still at the Club, and Thomas Vermaelen is one appearance away from joining them.

Overall Koscielny has played 138 matches for the Club in all competitions, and is eighth among the current squad in terms of most games.

A dozen members of the current first-team have played 100 or more games for Arsenal in all competitions. Earlier this season Jack Wilshere reached the landmark, becoming the 204th player in the history of the Club to do so. That represents just shy of 25 per cent of the total players ever to play for the Gunners.

Mikel Arteta is next in line to join them, he's currently on 95 total games.

The first player to make 100 appearances was Gavin Crawford, who played for Woolwich Arsenal between 1892 and 1898.

An outside right, Crawford joined from Sheffield United, and became one of the Gunners' very first professionals. He captained the team for several seasons and played in the Club's first league season, scoring in the first ever league win - a 4-0 triumph over Walsall in 1893.

Crawford later moved to Queens Park Rangers and then became the groundsman at Charlton Athletic, a position he held up to his 80th birthday.

With thanks to Opta. All stats correct as at December 3, 2013