Martinelli's scoring runs put Arsenal among Premier League's 'lucky charms'

Arsenal have not lost a Premier League game in which Gabriel Martinelli has scored, according to Opta data cited by multiple outlets on Sunday. In 38 Premier League matches where the Brazil forward found the net, Arsenal have won 30 and drawn eight. Across all competitions for Arsenal, Martinelli has scored in 47 games, a record that underscores his impact when he finds the back of the net.

Opta's all-time table for Premier League 'lucky charms' shows Gabriel Jesus at the top, unbeaten in 62 league games in which he scored for Manchester City and Arsenal, with 57 wins and five draws. James Milner is second, going 55 games unbeaten in which he scored across spells with Leeds, Newcastle, Manchester City, Liverpool and Brighton. Diogo Jota sits third with 52 such matches, while Darius Vassell is fourth with 46. Martinelli sits fifth with 38.

Martinelli's influence for Arsenal has grown in recent weeks. For the second game in the space of a week, he came off the bench to score, breaking the deadlock against Athletic Bilbao before delivering a 93rd-minute equaliser against Manchester City. The late strike against City extended his personal record of scoring in games that the Gunners did not lose when he was on the scoresheet.

That 62-55-52-46-38 ranking underlines a broader pattern Opta has catalogued in a series of 'lucky charm' markers: Jesus' 62 games, Milner's 55, Jota's 52, Vassell's 46, and Martinelli's 38. The data set is drawn from Premier League matches in which the players have scored, with the resulting results recorded as unbeaten outcomes for their sides.

Liverpool and Wolves icon Diogo Jota's 52-game unbeaten run after scoring is noted alongside the longer streaks enjoyed by Milner (55) and Jesus (62). Jota's achievement remains etched in memory for what his time at Liverpool and Wolves represented, a reminder that streaks can outlive a single season. In a separate footnote, Vassell's 46-game mark places him just ahead of Martinelli in the ranking, a testament to how long such records can endure across generations of defenders and attackers.

The all-time list—courtesy of Opta—serves as a statistical curiosity about how much a single goal can influence a game's outcome, especially when those moments arrive at pivotal times. For Arsenal, the takeaway is tactical as well as symbolic: a scorer who can swing a result is valued highly, and the team has leaned on those moments to build modest, ongoing momentum.

As the season progresses, managers and analysts may look to the synergy between Martinelli and other profile forwards who excel when their side is counting on a late or decisive contribution. The Premier League's lore around so-called lucky charms reflects a broader fascination with how specific players become catalysts in tight matches, a narrative that often intersects with squad rotation decisions and late-game shaping. If both Martinelli and a proven goalscorer like Jesus are available, Arteta might weigh how best to deploy them to maximize those unbeaten-when-scoring dynamics that fans have come to notice in recent months.