Over the past three decades, the Blues have come up against opponents from the capital in our first home match of the campaign on five occasions and secured maximum points each time thanks to some memorable performances and stunning goals.

2000 – West Ham United

While Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink converted a penalty in his first home match for the Blues and Gianfranco Zola also found the net with a well-executed free-kick, our 4-2 win over West Ham at the start of the 2000/01 season is best remembered for an audacious strike by Mario Stanic.

The Croatian only scored 10 goals during his injury-blighted spell at the Bridge but two of them came that day. The first showcased his remarkable talent as he juggled the ball with his thigh and foot before unleashing an outrageous volley from 30 yards which flew past Shaka Hislop into the top corner.

2005 – Arsenal

While Stanic’s strike in 2000 was sublime, Didier Drogba’s effort in our home opener against Arsenal five years later owed much more to luck than skill although it did mark a shift in the balance of power between London’s top two clubs at the time.

The Ivorian had bagged two excellent goals in our 2-1 win over the Gunners in the Community Shield a fortnight earlier but our long winless run against them in the Premier League looked set to continue with the match still scoreless at the Bridge after 73 minutes.

However, fate finally smiled on us when Drogba was unable to control Paulo Ferreira’s free-kick but inadvertently directed the ball with his knee past goalkeeper Jens Lehmann to secure our first victory in 20 league games against the north Londoners.

2016 – West Ham

Antonio Conte will be in the opposition dugout when Spurs visit this weekend but Chelsea fans have fond memories of the first time the Italian took charge of a London derby six years ago.

Despite dominating proceedings, it appeared that the Blues would have to settle for a point after Eden Hazard’s penalty had been cancelled out by James Collins’ late effort.

However, Diego Costa thought otherwise and with just a minute remaining, he produced a moment of magic as he sent a low drive from 20 yards between the legs of Collins and past the diving Adrian into the bottom corner to secure a 2-1 victory as Conte embraced the home fans in his wild celebration.

2018 – Arsenal

Maurizio Sarri’s first home game as Chelsea manager proved to be a roller-coaster affair with a Spanish twist as we saw off Arsenal in a five-goal thriller.

All seemed to be going to plan after Marcos Alonso set up Pedro’s opener and Cesar Azpilicueta sent Alvora Morata clear to make it 2-0 after 20 minutes. But goals by Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alex Iwobi in a four-minute spell late in the first half saw the two sides going into the interval on level terms.

The game was still deadlocked with nine minutes left when Hazard outfoxed a defender on the left flank and sent an inviting low cross towards the near post where Alonso diverted the ball home to seal a 3-2 win.

2021 – Crystal Palace

Just a few days after outlasting Villarreal in a draining Super Cup clash in Belfast which went to penalties, Chelsea produced a strong performance in our league opener back at the Bridge 12 months ago to see off Crystal Palace.

The Blues went into the game on the back of seven straight wins against the Eagles and had little trouble extending the streak as a Marcos Alonso free-kick and a close-range finish by Christian Pulisic put us two goals up at the interval.

However, the moment of the game arrived after 58 minutes when Academy graduate Trevoh Chalobah found himself alone in plenty of space 25 yards from goal and heeded the encouragement of the crowd to shoot as he fired an unerring effort into the bottom corner to seal a comprehensive 3-0 win.