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There are many players exciting Arsenal fans at the moment.

Assist machine Mesut Ozil has them purring in appreciation. Suddenly-world-class centre-back Laurent Koscielny has them roaring with delight. Dominant centre-forward Olivier Giroud has them drooling because… well, he's just that handsome, isn't he?

However, it seems the player for whom Gooners should be most thankful is Mathieu Flamini.

Yes, that little French midfield destroyer who runs around doing the dirty work while his more gifted team mates glide elegantly around him, doing all the fancy stuff. Just look at the selfless and massively effective way he nullified David Silva during The Gunners' huge 2-1 win again Man City.

But The Flamini Effect (as we're now calling it) is far greater than that. We have some numbers here which suggest that - for home games, anyway - Flamini might be Arsenal's most important player.

Either that or he's the luckiest lucky mascot in Premier League history. Flamini has been involved in 52 Premier League games at The Emirates. And just take a look at his record:

Mathieu Flamini's Premier League record at The Emirates W 36 D 16 L 0

Let's just look at that again, shall we?

Mathieu Flamini's Premier League record at The Emirates P 52 L 0

Yes, Mathieu Flamini has played 52 home games in his Premier League career… and lost NONE of them.

It's an astonishing fact which suggests he has a vital part to play in the rest of Arsenal's season.

And not just because he might spend some of his billions on Lionel Messi…

(Image: Stuart MacFarlane)