You BetArsenal’s ‘weakness’ against lesser sides is twaddle – how they handle Chelsea will be a real gauge of their title chances

This is a crunch weekend in the English Premier League, with six of the top eight in opposition, and it is a sign of the shifting balance of power that leaders Arsenal have the easiest task on paper against 14th-placed Chelsea.

Despite the gap between the two teams this is still the biggest match of the weekend, with top billing as Sunday night’s late game, and it will reveal more about the durability of Arsenal’s title challenge and the substance of Chelsea’s revival under Guus Hiddink.

It was interesting to hear so many commentators heap praise on Arsenal for their fortitude in taking a goalless draw at Stoke last week, hailing the result as evidence that what has changed with the Gunners this season is their resilience in the less glamorous fixtures.

For one thing, that standpoint does a disservice to Stoke, who are a much better footballing side under Mark Hughes than they were under Tony Pulis. More importantly, it falls back on the outdated view that the problem with Arsenal in recent years has been a failure to cope with the more combative teams from further down the ladder.

For several seasons now, Arsenal’s form against the lesser teams has been up to the standard required of title winners. In the past two campaigns, for instance, they have ranked top in the Premier League for points taken against bottom-half teams.

Last season they were undefeated in 20 games against bottom-half teams, taking more points in that category than the ‘Invincibles’ of Arsenal’s last title-winning campaign in 2003-04.

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Where Arsenal have really fallen short in recent years is in their matches against their closest rivals, suggesting that the issue has been more a lack of quality. In the past three seasons, Arsene Wenger’s side have never ranked better than fourth in the mini-league of matches involving the top six teams and often that has cost them a chance of making a concerted title challenge.