Arsenal fans riled by the Groundhog Day repetitions of the past few years have at least been treated to something more immediate before Saturday’s FA Cup final against Chelsea. Faced with the prospect of another tangle with Diego Costa, Arsenal’s centre-backs have been cutting straight to the chase. Shkodran Mustafi is concussed. Laurent Koscielny has been sent off and banned. Gabriel got in there early with his injured knee. Entering the Diego Zone? They are way ahead of you.
Arsenal have generally seen the best and the worst of Costa during three seasons of mischief and fury in the Premier League, a centre-forward who does not so much play on the edge as appear at times to be completely unaware the edge exists in the first place. Even at full strength, successive Wenger-issue centre-halves have been bruised and bullied through a head-to-head record of three kidney-punching defeats and a single, ultimately fruitless, victory last September, the 3-0 win at the Emirates that acted as a spark for Chelsea’s title charge.
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