Which Gunners loved scoring at Christmas most?

Forget presents, Santa and turkey dinners, for Gooners one of the first things they think of when it comes to this time of the year is a feast of football.

A tightly packed fixture list in the latter half of December has been an English football tradition for decades, giving supporters the chance to gorge on games galore around the festive period and throughout the new year celebrations.

Managers always identify it as one of the most crucial periods of a season as momentum can swiftly snowball or freeze, and players enjoy giving fans gifts in the form of stunning performances, and indeed goals.

But which Gunners have provided us with the most cheer at this time of the year during the Premier League era? We asked Opta to unearth the players who were sufficiently lifted by Christmas to find the net frequently.

We’ve classified festive fixtures as falling between December 21 and January 2, and unsurprisingly seeing as they bagged goals at all times of the year, our two greatest scorers top the list.

Thierry Henry leads the way with 14 strikes, helped by a Boxing Day hat-trick against Leicester City in 2000, a brace against Wolves during the Invincibles campaign and a pair of goals against Portsmouth in 2005. In fact, he scored at least during the Christmas period in each of the eight seasons during his first spell, highlighting his fondness for this time of the year.

Thierry is four ahead of his nearest rivals Ian Wright and Robin van Persie. Wrighty twice managed to score in three successive matches around Christmas in both 1993 and 1995, while half of van Persie’s haul came in four matches in 2006/07 when he bagged braces against Blackburn Rovers and Charlton Athletic.

Someone in red-hot form hoping to catch that pair is Bukayo Saka, who has already scored eight times around Christmas, including in each of the past four seasons. His first came on Boxing Day 2020 when Chelsea were beaten 3-1, and four more arrived during a purple patch the following campaign which included a brace at Norwich City.

West Ham United and Brighton & Hove Albion were also victims in 2022/23 while he continued his run with a goal at Fulham on New Year’s Day at the start of this year. Crystal Palace, Ipswich Town and Brentford will be wary of his fondness for goals at this time of the year in the coming weeks.

As well as Thierry's treble in 2000, two other players have scored a Premier League Christmas hat-trick for us. Kevin Campbell was gifted the matchball at Swindon Town in December 1993, while Theo Walcott got his name on the scoresheet three times in a crazy 7-3 win against Newcastle United in December 2012.

Meanwhile, a host of Gunners also had an extra special reason to celebrate by grabbing their first Premier League goal for the club at this time of the year. Notable on this list is John Jensen, who famously only scored once for us which came on New Year’s Eve 1994 - the day our columnist Adrian Clarke made his Arsenal debut - what a way to celebrate!