By Tony Attwood
Scoring five or more in the Premier League is something that Mr Wenger does rather well (and certainly better than any other manager in our history).
This season has seen the number of games in which we have scored five or more continue to rise – with three occasions so far with the victory over Tottenham being the 31st occasion in the EPL era.
Before the arrival of Arsène Wenger we scored five goals once every 86 games in the Premier League. Under him in the Premier League it moved to once every 20 matches.
So on that basis if you want to see five there’s not much point going along to matches until the eighth league game of next season.
Our favourite opponents for the bit scores are Middlesbrough – I’ve been luck y to have seen two of them. The first was away (6-1) – and I remember it fondly as my mate Roger went out of his way to take me to the game when I was very ill. I don’t think I was much of a companion, but his kindness and Arsenal’s brilliance certainly aided my recovery. After that we had a 5-1 and 5-3 both of which I missed but then a 7-0 at Highbury – one of my cherished moments. Henry and co at their very best. Blackburn have also been beaten by five plus three times: 6-2, 6-2 and 7-1.
Leicester City, Everton, Wimbledon, Manchester City and Derby County have all been beaten with us scoring five plus twice.
So what happens after the five plus have been scored. On each of the last nine occasions we have gone on to win the next match. Most recently it was…
After Chelsea we beat West Brom 3-0
After Blackburn we beat Sunderland 2-1
And now we know that after Tottenham, we beat Liverpool 2-1.
In fact add the last nine times Arsenal have scored five or more in a premier league game, we went on to win the following league fixture each time, by a cumulative score of 21-6.
Meanwhile we can also add that the victory over Blackburn was the 11th game featuring eight or more goals, in the EPL.
Prior to the Wenger era the season Arsenal scored five plus the most times was 1934/35, when George Allison was in his first year as manager. Arsenal scored ten five+ wins including beating Liverpool 8-1, Birmingham 5-1, Tottenham 5-1 and 6-0, Chelsea 5-2, Wolverhampton 7-0, Leicester 8-0 and 5-3, Preston 5-3, Middlesbrough 8-0.
Although some “fans” made a huge fuss about the issue of our “worst” start to a season, the fact is that we have conceded five or more goals in Premier League games only twice, both times at Manchester United (6-1 in 2000/01 and 8-2 r this season).
Here’s one more stat: the game against Chelsea was the 13th time game in the Premier League where we have let in three or more goals without losing the game.
| Date | Opposition | Venue | Score | Scorers |
| 1993/94 | ||||
| March 5, 1994 | Ipswich Town | A | 5-1 | Wright 3, Parlour, Youds (og) |
| 1994/95 | ||||
| April 1, 1995 | Norwich City | H | 5-1 | Hartson 2, Dixon, Merson, Newman (og) |
| 1997/98 | ||||
| October 4, 1997 | Barnsley | H | 5-0 | Bergkamp 2, Parlour, Platt |
| April 18, 1998 | Wimbledon | H | 5-0 | Adams, Overmars, Bergkamp, Petit, Wreh |
| 1998/99 | ||||
| February 20, 1999 | Leicester City | H | 5-0 | Anelka 3, Parlour 2 |
| April 19, 1999 | Wimbledon | H | 5-1 | Parlour, Vieira, Bergkamp, Kanu, Thatcher (og) |
| April 24, 1999 | Middlesbrough | A | 6-1 | Overmars, Anelka 2, Kanu 2 |
| 1999/00 | ||||
| November 20, 1999 | Middlesbrough | H | 5-1 | Overmars 3, Bergkamp 2 |
| 2000/01 | ||||
| August 26, 2000 | Charlton Athletic | H | 5-3 | Vieira 2, Henry 2, Silvinho |
| October 28, 2000 | Manchester City | H | 5-0 | Cole, Bergkamp, Wiltord, Henry 2 |
| December 9, 2000 | Newcastle United | H | 5-0 | Henry, Parlour 3, Kanu |
| December 26, 2000 | Leicester City | H | 6-1 | Henry 3, Vieira, Ljungberg, Adams |
| 2002/03 | ||||
| August 27, 2002 | West Brom | H | 5-2 | Cole, Lauren, Wiltord 2, Aliadiere |
| February 22, 2003 | Manchester City | A | 5-1 | Bergkamp, Pires, Henry, Campbell, Vieira |
| May 7, 2003 | Southampton | H | 6-1 | Pires 3, Pennant 3 |
| 2003/04 | ||||
| April 16, 2004 | Leeds United | H | 5-0 | Pires, Henry 4 |
| 2004/05 | ||||
| August 22, 2004 | Middlesbrough | H | 5-3 | Henry 2, Bergkamp, Pires, Reyes |
| November 13, 2004 | Tottenham Hostpur | A | 5-4 | Henry, Lauren, Vieira, Ljungberg, Pires |
| February 14, 2005 | Crystal Palace | H | 5-1 | Bergkamp, Reyes, Henry 2, Vieira |
| May 11, 2005 | Everton | H | 7-0 | Van Persie, Pires 2, Vieira, Edu, Bergkamp, Flamini |
| 2005/06 | ||||
| January 14, 2006 | Middlesbrough | H | 7-0 | Henry 3, Senderos, Pires, Gilberto, Hleb |
| April 1, 2006 | Aston Villa | H | 5-0 | Adebayor, Henry 2, Van Persie, Diaby |
| 2006/07 | ||||
| December 23, 2006 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 6-2 | Gilberto, Adebayor, Flamini, Van Persie 2, Hleb |
| 2007/08 | ||||
| September 22, 2007 | Derby County | H | 5-0 | Fabregas, Diaby, Adebayor 3 |
| April 28, 2008 | Derby County | A | 6-2 | Adebayor 3, Walcott, Bendtner, Van Persie |
| 2009/10 | ||||
| August 15, 2009 | Everton | A | 6-1 | Gallas, Vermaelen, Fabregas 2, Denilson, Eduardo |
| October 4, 2009 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 6-2 | Vermaelen, Fabregas, Arshavin, Van Persie, Walcott, Bendtner |
| 2010/11 | ||||
| August 21, 2010 | Blackpool | H | 6-0 | Walcott 3, Arshavin, Chamakh, Diaby |
| 2011/12 | ||||
| October 29, 2011 | Chelsea | A | 5-3 | Van Persie 3, Andre Santos, Walcott |
| February 4, 2012 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 7-1 | Van Persie 3, Chamberlain 2, Arteta, Henry |
| February 26 2012 | Tottenham H | H | 5-3 | Walcott 2, Rosiky, Sagna, Van Persie |
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