Thursday 22 September 2016 5:23 pm

Chelsea can topple Arsenal in another fiery London derby

PLENTY has happened at Chelsea since they were last beaten in the league by Arsenal.

Since 29 October 2011, the Blues have been through five managers, won as many trophies, gone from champions to tenth, and even had time to sell David Luiz to PSG before buying him back.

Change hasn’t been as quick at the Emirates as it has been at Stamford Bridge. Arsene Wenger is now into his 21st season in charge.

The fact it was a Robin van Persie hat-trick that sealed that 5-3 victory almost five years ago shows how much the footballing landscape has shifted.

A look at last season’s matches between the two reveals the mental block Wenger’s men have when facing Chelsea.

The Blues came into last year’s fixtures during the most toxic parts of their worst season in recent memory.

While they sat in 17th and 18th, Arsenal kicked off in second and first position when the sides met.

What resulted was two comfortable victories for Chelsea as they continued their hold over their north London rivals.

And the bad news for the Gunners is that they are much improved, despite a first defeat for Antonio Conte against Liverpool last week.

I like Betway’s 21/10 for another Chelsea win on Saturday afternoon. Though they scored four against both Hull and Nottingham Forest this week, the Gunners struggle to score against Chelsea.

In the last eight meetings, they’ve scored just once. Chelsea have netted 13 times in that stretch. Up against arch wind-up merchant Diego Costa, and in front of a nervy Emirates crowd, it’ll take something special for the Gunners to end their unwanted run.

Costa’s pantomime villain act seems to affect Arsenal too – last season he goaded Gabriel into a red card at home before scoring the only goal in a 1-0 away win.

Joint-top Premier League scorer with five goals from five games, don’t bet against Costa adding another this time around.

I think we could see an open game. Both teams appear to have defensive frailties, which leads me to suggest buying total goals at 2.95 with Sporting Index.