Arsenal FC :: Fudbal ~ Kladionica ~ Fantasy ~ Navijaci

When Robin van Persie steered Arsenal's winner past Pepe Reina at Anfield on Saturday afternoon, the Dutch striker edged ever closer to recording the most prolific season for an individual player in Premier League history.

Van Persie netted his 24th and 25th league strikes of the campaign against Liverpool, to continue a quite remarkable 14 months in front of goal.

And, with 11 games remaining between now and the end of the season, the 28-year-old has a realistic chance of registering a record-breaking campaign by trumping the current figure of 31 goals in a 38 game season.

This feat was first achieved by Alan Shearer during his time with Blackburn Rovers, and was equalled by Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo in his quite phenomenal season of 2007/08.

Both Shearer and Andy Cole can both boast netting on 34 occasions during a single season, but each did so when the league comprised of 22 teams instead of the current format of 20.

Van Persie, then, requires only seven more goals between now and May to break new ground in the Premier League and confirm himself as one of the finest strikers to have graced the competition in its 20 years.

When comparing the potent season currently being enjoyed by Van Persie and that by Ronaldo some four years previous, the former can crow to have scored 25 goals earlier than his Portuguese counterpart.

Van Persie registered a quarter of a century by March 3, while Ronaldo did the same 20 days later than the Gunners captain on his way to a record haul.

However, having been sent off against Portsmouth in only the second game of that season, by March 23 Ronaldo had scored 25 goals in exactly the same amount of games as Van Persie - 27.

This ratio of 0.93 goals-per-game shared by each player is also better than that of Shearer at the same stage, who played 29 times for Blackburn before reaching the milestone of 25 strikes for the season.

It would, then, appear that the prospect of Van Persie surpassing both Shearer and Ronaldo is very real and, with encounters against struggling QPR, Wolves and Wigan on the horizon, the Holland international could even trump Cole.

A more difficult proposition for Van Persie - but achievable nevertheless - would be to exceed the achievements of Ronaldo in 2007/08 in terms of the now Real Madrid star's total goal haul.

Ronaldo was awarded the Ballon d'Or as he spearheaded United's Premier League and Champions League winning side - scoring 42 times in 49 appearances in all competitions for Sir Alex Ferguson's side.

Van Persie, meanwhile, currently stands on 31 in 36 this term, but Arsenal's imminent Champions League exit will strike a significant blow to any hopes he may harbour of beating Ronaldo.

However, few would have predicted Van Persie would have sustained such a potent touch in front over goal over this length of time, and 43 goals would not be beyond the realms of possibility.

But the priority for Van Persie will remain ensuring Arsenal can qualify for the Champions League this season, and his goals will prove to be the most important factor in aiding their bid to do so.

Arsenal fans would no doubt rejoice at the prospect of their captain setting breaking domestic goalscoring records this season.

But, should he do so, then perhaps the chances of him following the lead of Ronaldo and moving to the Santiago Bernabeu will increase significantly.

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