Arsenal v Blackburn 4th Feb 12

Arsenal v Blackburn 

Seventh placed Arsenal take on 18^th placed Blackburn with both teams coming off disappointing midweek fixtures 

The Gunners are now on 37 points, five behind Chelsea and the fourth Champions League place

Rovers are on 18 points, two away from 17^th placed Bolton and safety and they have a superior goal difference on their Lancashire rivals   

Rovers have conceded 47 goals, only bottom of the table Wigan with 48 have conceded more 

At home this season Arsenal have the fourth best record with 23 points out of a possible 33 from seven wins and two draws to go with defeats at the hands of Liverpool and Manchester United 

They have only conceded eight goals which is the third meanest home record and half of those games game in the two defeats

On the road Rovers have collected nine points from one win and six draws to go with just four defeats and only four teams have scored more goals, 17, on their travels    

Rovers have the unique record of being the only team to score in all their away matches this season 

This match brings together two teams who have used a lot of young players this season, Arsenal have used 14 players 21 or under and Rovers 10 

The Gunners have the PL leading scorer, Robin van Persie on 19 goals, four more than anyone else and seven more than Rovers’ Aiyegbeni Yakubu

Rovers have the joint most penalties awarded in their favour this season with six, four more than Arsenal but they have only converted three of them 

Blackburn have one of the two most booked players in the PL this season, Ryan Lowe has collected eight yellow cards, the same as QPR’s Joey Barton, and one more than Arsenal’s Alexandre Song 

Rovers do not have any ever presents with Steven N’Zoni playing 21 of their 23 matches, one more than keeper Paul Robinson 

Scottish striker David Goodwille is Blackburn’s most used substitute with 11 appearances off the bench out of the 16 times he has been on the bench 

Ruben Rochina has started nine games and been replaced in eight of them 

Keeper Wojciech Szczesny is the Gunners only ever present with 23 starts, van Persie has start 22 matches and come on as a substitute in the other  

The Gunners have only won nine of the 14 goals where they have taken the lead and lost the last two against Fulham and Swansea

Rovers have only won three of the nine matches where they scored first

In the last 10 minutes of matches Arsenal have scored eight times compared to just three times by Rovers 

Rovers have a poor record for conceding early with goals in the opening 15 minutes compared to just one by the Gunners

Attacking Stats

Defensive Stats  

Fixture History 

Earlier in the season Rovers were 4-3 home winners over the Gunners coming back from a 21 deficit with the help of two own goals  

Last season at the Emirates the match ended in a 0-0 draw, the third one in this fixture, and they have all been when Arsenal were the home team

At home Arsenal lead this fixture 9/3 with five matches drawn 

Last season’s 0-0 draw ended a run of seven straight home wins for the Gunners since Rovers left with all three points back in October 2002 with Dwight Yorke scoring a 51^st minute winner after Edu had scored at both ends of the pitch 

 In five of their last seven home matches against Rovers, Arsenal have scored three or more goals and twice won 6-2  

Overall in the PL the two have met 35 times and the Gunners lead with 18 wins, Rovers have nine and eight have finished all square 

This is Robin van Persie’s favourite fixture with eight goals in 11 matches and at the Emirates he is four in four 

Yakubu has scored five times against Arsenal but none of them have come at Arsenal in six matches 

Check out all the PL matches between the two