I know that everyone is curious about the numbers from the Borussia game but truth be told I started looking at Robin van Persie’s scoring record in 2011 and.. well, I fell into a stat hole.

This started by simply dumping all of Robin van Persie’s matches for 2011 into a spreadsheet and then looking for some nifty facts. I did that and then I wondered how Robin compared to Thierry Henry’s numbers from the 2003/2004 Invincibles season.

Now, obviously I’m not saying that Robin van Persie is a legend like Thierry Henry. That would take multiple trophies and seasons of performing at the highest level. That said, the similarities in Robin’s form to Henry in 03/04 is pretty striking, I think you’ll agree.

Other Odd numbers from Robin’s 2011 run of form

15 – Arsenal wins when Robin scored*

6 – Draws when Robin scored

5 – Losses when Robin scored

6 – Wins when Robin scored before the League Cup final

1 – Draw when Robin scored before the League Cup final

0 – Losses when Robin scored before the League Cup final

9 – Wins when Robin scored after the League Cup final

5 – Draws when Robin scored after the League Cup final

4 – Losses when Robin scored after the League Cup final

8 – Wins when Robin scored this season

1 – Draw when Robin scored this season

1 – Loss when Robin scored this season

10 – Number of games where Robin has scored more than one goal

6 – Number of games this season (18 matches) where Robin has scored more than one goal

4 – Robin’s longest streak of consecutive matches scoring (twice)

2 – Robin’s longest streak of consecutive matches without scoring a goal (4 times)

1 – Red cards for shooting after the whistle

Compared to Thierry Henry from 03/04…

21 – Wins when Thierry scored

4 – Draws when Thierry scored**

1 – Losses when Thierry scored (@Dynamo Kiev 2-1 October 21, 2003)

10 – Number of games where Thierry scored more than one goal

2 – Number of hat-tricks (or better)

5 – Henry’s longest streak of consecutive matches scoring

4 – Henry’s longest streak of consecutive matches without scoring a goal (twice)

0 – Red cards for shooting after the whistle

*Just to re-iterate: these records are for all competitions, 2011 only

**The Community Shield match ended 1-1 and counts as a draw even though Arsenal lost on penalties

Qq