Opta | Tom Ede: London Calling

FOR much of the 2000s, the Premier League had its ‘big four’ clubs, namely Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United. They were quite often the highest four placed teams in the division, and even had historical gravitas. Then Man City got rich, and Tottenham had a couple of good seasons, so the narrative changed to the ‘big six’. However, several of those clubs have taken it in turns to be a bit rubbish, and we’ve also had Newcastle and Aston Villa recently qualify for the Champions League. Are we in uncharted ‘big 8’ territory?

With all this uncertainty about what teams actually belong where, it’s good that you can always rely on a London derby. While Brentford vs Fulham (as an example) may not pack quite the same punch as Liverpool vs Manchester United say, at least it’s a match between two sides from the same city. And these glorious fixtures will form the focus of our article this week. Arsenal travel to Crystal Palace in the 5.30pm kick-off this Saturday, looking to remain unbeaten in Premier League London derby matches for the whole of 2024. It would be the first time the Gunners have done so in a calendar year since 2004, while it would be the eighth time a team has done so overall (with Arsenal responsible for most of them):

Unbeaten in PL London Derbies – Calendar Year
Team	Year	Games	W	D	L
Arsenal	1996	8	4	4	0
Arsenal	2000	8	6	2	0
Charlton Athletic	2001	10	5	5	0
Arsenal	2002	10	7	3	0
Arsenal	2003	8	6	2	0
Arsenal	2004	10	7	3	0
Chelsea	2005	10	9	1	0
Arsenal	2024	9	7	2	0

In total, Arsenal have won 159 Premier League London derby matches, the joint-most alongside Chelsea. However, the Gunners have played a game fewer, giving them the best win rate overall in such games. And worse news for Crystal Palace fans is that the Eagles have the second lowest win rate in these fixtures:

Premier League London Derbies	Played	W	D	L	W%
Arsenal	304	159	82	63	52.3%
Chelsea	305	159	77	69	52.1%
Tottenham Hotspur	306	111	87	108	36.3%
Brentford	39	13	13	13	33.3%
West Ham United	270	82	60	128	30.4%
Charlton Athletic	76	23	15	38	30.3%
Wimbledon	78	23	22	33	29.5%
Queens Park Rangers	70	17	20	33	24.3%
Crystal Palace	153	32	41	80	20.9%
Fulham	167	34	45	88	20.4%

Courtesy of Crystal Palace remaining in the division since 2013, the fact that Wimbledon used to play there, and various clubs moving grounds, Selhurst Park is the stadium to have hosted the second highest number of Premier League London derbies. And if two goals are scored on Saturday evening, it will be the second ground to see 300 such goals scored in the competition:

Premier League London Derbies	Played	Goals
Stamford Bridge	153	417
Selhurst Park	116	298
White Hart Lane	115	295
Emirates Stadium	83	253
Upton Park	93	251
Craven Cottage	75	203
Highbury	67	180
London Stadium	41	127
The Valley	38	118
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium	33	102
Loftus Road	44	85
Brentford Community Stadium	19	42
Wembley Stadium	7	17

And a few more Premier League London derby awards that may (or may not, it’s all just a bit of fun) be of interest:

Longest unbeaten run – 35 games, Arsenal between November 2001 and April 2005

Longest winless run – 24 games, Fulham between January 2014 and May 2021

Longest winning run – 8 games, Chelsea between April 2005 and January 2006

Longest losing run – 13 games, Fulham between August 2018 and November 2020

Bukayo Saka has been Arsenal’s brightest spark this season, and his form in London derby matches typifies this. He’s had a hand in 14 goals in his last 15 league matches against fellow London sides (7 goals, 7 assists), while his two assists against West Ham last month took him to 4th place in the all-time assists standings in such games. If this form continues, don’t bet against him taking the number one spot in the near future:

Premier League London Derbies	Assists
Cesc Fàbregas	24
Dennis Bergkamp	23
Frank Lampard	18
Bukayo Saka	17
Didier Drogba	16
Christian Eriksen	15
Michail Antonio	14
Eden Hazard	14
Darren Anderton	13

With 53 games played for Saka, he’s got a way to go to trouble the top appearance makers in PL London derbies. For those inclined for a good quiz question, there are five players to make 100+ appearances in such games, with West Ham and Chelsea legend Frank Lampard at the very top of the list:

Premier League London Derbies	Games
Frank Lampard	139
John Terry	116
Mark Noble	105
Sol Campbell	103
Petr Cech	101
Hugo Lloris	93
Chris Perry	90
César Azpilicueta	87
Ashley Cole	87
Jermain Defoe	87

Meanwhile, in terms of most goals scored, Harry Kane perhaps unsurprisingly holds this record, netting 51 in his time at Spurs in the competition. Another personal accolade in an otherwise trophyless existence for the England skipper.

Premier League London Derbies	Goals
Harry Kane	51
Thierry Henry	43
Frank Lampard	32
Teddy Sheringham	32
Jermain Defoe	28
Son Heung-Min	28
Ian Wright	28
Robin van Persie	25
Didier Drogba	23
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink	22

And as with the teams, some more fun Premier League London derby records you never knew you needed:

Most games with a 100% win rate – Francis Jeffers, who won all seven such appearances

Most games with a 100% loss rate – Denis Odoi and Jean Seri, who both lost all nine such appearances. Here’s the link to a popular search engine if any more information is required… https://www.google.co.uk/

Most games without ever losing – Four players have featured in 10+ Premier League London derbies without ever losing, all of them Arsenal legends* – Edu 19 (W14 D5), José Antonio Reyes 17 (W10 D7), Pascal Cygan (W11 D4) and Fabio Vieira (W6 D4)

Most games without ever winning – Four players have featured in 10+ Premier League London derbies without ever winning, all of them with Fulham – Frank Anguissa 14 (D4 L10), Diomansy Kamara 13 (D4 L9), Joe Bryan 12 (D1 L11) and Aboubakar Kamara 10 (D1 L9).

*Legends comment purely subjective, though worth noting Pascal Cygan has won the PL title unbeaten

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