Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva has been asked who is his toughest opponent in the Premier League – and it’s not Arsenal
Bernardo Silva is not the most popular opposition player with Liverpool supporters. From that half-hearted title guard of honour to those Twitter spats and to that foul on Mohamed Salah that got Jurgen Klopp sent off, no, it’s fair to say there is no love lost between the Manchester City midfielder and the Anfield faithful.
But are we detecting a thaw in the relationship from the Portuguese’s side? Because, for the second time this season, Silva has appeared to pay the Reds a compliment.
For so long it was just Liverpool and City battling it out at the top of the Premier League. And, while there is a strong suggestion they will be doing so again come the closing stages of the current campaign, there is now a third club well and truly in the mix – Arsenal.
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The Gunners have finished second behind Pep Guardiola’s team in the past two seasons and, whisper it quietly, they now could even be above the Reds in the enmity stakes when it comes to the defending champions.
The bad blood was there for all to see during and after last month’s dramatic 2-2 draw between the sides at the Etihad.
Following the game, Silva lashed out at Arsenal and their approach to the match, which they led until John Stones equalised in the 98th minute despite playing the whole of the second half with 10 men after Leandro Trossard was sent off.
“There was only one team that came to play football,” moaned the Portugal international. “The other came to play to the limits of what was possible to do and allowed by the referee, unfortunately. But at the end we got a draw, the best we could get considering the context of the last moments of the match.
“We’re not happy as we wanted the three points, but personally I’m happy with the way we came to play and faced the game. I’m glad we always enter the pitch to try to win every match.”
“It all started in the very first second. In the first action we realised what was going to happen. We had a player injured after they sent him to the ground twice in 10 minutes. We had a goal conceded after the referee called our captain and then didn’t allow him to recover his position. The second goal is already their usual block to our keeper, which was allowed by the referee.
“Then the referee allowed a sequence of time-wasting events. The thing that bothers me the most is having a lot of meetings with the FA at the beginning of each season. They tell us they will control this kind of situation and will stop them, but in the end it doesn’t have any worth. They say a lot but nothing happens.”
And then came the praise for Liverpool. “The difference? I don’t know,” replied Silva when asked how City’s rivalry with the Gunners compared to their one with the Reds. “Maybe that Liverpool have already won the Premier League, Arsenal haven’t. That Liverpool have won the Champions League, Arsenal haven’t.
“Liverpool always faced us face to face to try to win the games, so from this perspective the games against Arsenal haven’t been like the ones we had and have against Liverpool. So yes, maybe a different rivalry.”
The Reds currently lead the standings with 18 points, with new head coach Arne Slot winning six of his first seven top-flight games in charge, but City and Arsenal are just a point behind.
And ahead of the Premier League’s return this weekend, Silva was asked who is toughest opponent is domestically. He said to Pro Direct Soccer: “I always tend to go to Liverpool because I respect them a lot because of how good they are and how tough it was for us over the years to beat them. So Liverpool players are always the toughest I would say.”
And asked whether he would prefer to beat the Reds or City’s neighbours Manchester United, he said: “As I said, Liverpool were our biggest rivals, I’ve been at Man City for seven years and a few months, and Liverpool were always the toughest, but I like beating Man United as well.”
Arsenal could move top of the table by winning at Bournemouth in the late Saturday kick-off (5.30pm). City then travel to basement boys Wolves on Sunday (2pm) before Liverpool host Chelsea later in the afternoon (4.30pm).
