The papers continue to name Chelsea as the champions elect on Tuesday morning with the Guardian's Dominic Fifield leading the charge. In 'Didier Drogba is right – this Chelsea side will take some stopping now' Fifield predicts a season of dominance for Carlo Ancelotti's side.

"The Emirates had all but emptied, numbed Arsenal players still drifting away utterly deflated in defeat, when Didier Drogba surveyed what remained of the chasing pack. 'We have the team to stay ahead of all the others,' said the Ivorian. 'The gap isn't enough yet, but it's still a good gap. When you're top of the league you only have to concentrate on yourselves. The others have to chase you. They have to produce more and have to put more effort in to win games. We have just sent a big message to the teams in England.'

"This Chelsea side will take some clawing back now. Victories over the other members of the established elite four, together with a spanking of Tottenham Hotspur's pretenders, have earned Carlo Ancelotti's team their breathing space with a visit to an apparently nervous and vulnerable Manchester City on Saturday doing little to suggest momentum is about to be checked. Only Aston Villa, currently sixth, and Wigan have gleaned any reward from a collision with the London club this term, both bizarrely managing to outmuscle the leaders en route to home victories. In the period since, strength has been restored as Chelsea's buzzword.

"The sight of Armand Traoré bouncing miserably off an unflinching Drogba late on in Sunday's battering was a reminder of the physical power that sustains this team. That brawn imposes itself on opponents all over the pitch: from the muscular running of the hugely improved Branislav Ivanovic at full-back to John Terry's forcefulness at centre-half; from the energy of Michael Essien to the authority commanded by Frank Lampard and, on occasion, Michael Ballack. Chelsea, defensively, have conceded only once at home all season, on the opening day, and have not been breached in eight of their last nine games. Only Arsenal can match their tally of 36 goals at the other end.

"Ancelotti has long since acknowledged that the physical power this team possess can propel them through awkward occasions, although Chelsea are just as strong in other aspects of their play. Technically their squad is world-class and there is strength in depth to make the likes of Arsenal – denied Robin van Persie, Nicklas Bendtner, Gaël Clichy and Kieran Gibbs – and even, perhaps, Manchester United post-Cristiano Ronaldo and Carles Tevez wince. The London side fielded Deco, Ballack and Florent Malouda in beating Porto in midweek, replacing that trio with Joe Cole, Essien and Lampard at the Emirates. Alex, another player who has excelled, was not involved in either fixture. "The players on our bench could play in any team," said Ancelotti at the weekend. His options would be staggering should he manage to prise Sergio Agüero or even Franck Ribéry from Atlético Madrid or Bayern Munich in January."

Tony Cascarino in the Times, meanwhile, was unimpressed with the way the Arsenal manager responded to the defeat.

"There’s plenty that Arsène Wenger has not seen down the years, but surely even the Arsenal manager couldn’t have missed Didier Drogba on Sunday. Drogba. You know, Arsène, the striker who scored twice and battered your defence senseless, sending Arsenal’s lightweights tumbling around the pitch like crisp packets in the wind?

Wenger is an awful loser, we’ve known that for a long time, but his comments about Drogba after Chelsea’s 3-0 win plumbed new depths. 'He is a good player but it is funny because he does not do a lot,' Wenger said after the game. 'He is efficient in what he does. You would be surprised by the number of balls he touched today.

'Drogba is a great player, no one can deny that, but he is in a period when he kicks the ball it goes in.'

I don’t remember Wenger saying something similar about Thierry Henry in his Arsenal prime: 'Yes, he’s having a purple patch but you’d be surprised by how little he actually does.' What a shame that Wenger sounded bitter instead of humble."