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Amid quite remarkable scenes at the usually muted Stamford Bridge, Manchester City's record-breaking start to the campaign was halted by Chelsea, however history suggests that Arsenal should fear facing the wounded leaders on Sunday.

The script is already being written for Manchester United to beat QPR earlier in the day to go top, and then the reinvigorated Gunners to kick Roberto Mancini's men while they are down. As a result, they are out to 1.88 to win the title from a low of 1.5.

But a glance at the statistics shows that clubs who suffer defeat after posting the longest unbeaten run at the beginning of the season rarely fold in the manner that many assume that they do.

In each of the last six years, the last side to have their loss column blemished - and intriguingly Manchester City are the sixth different team in as many seasons - all endured that hiccup on their travels and then bounced back with a home victory.

And that has been no mean feat on a number of those occasions either, such as in 2007-08 when Arsenal followed their week 16 reverse to Middlesbrough by conquering Chelsea 1-0 at the Emirates.

Similarly, the Blues reacted to a loss at Wigan two years ago by overcoming Liverpool, and Manchester United fought back from the shock of a defeat to Wolves last term by seeing off Manchester City.

So those speculating that the FA Cup winners' first genuine pursuit of the Premier League top spot could be over by Christmas are likely in for a nasty surprise, and 1.73 is a tasty price on them getting the better of a team who have lost to Manchester United, Tottenham and Liverpool.

It is worth noting though that in the seven campaigns since Arsenal did the unthinkable and went a whole year without defeat, the final side to lose has gone on to win the title on only three occasions.

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