Bernardo Silva fires bold warning to Arsenal as Man City aim to chase down Gunners in nerve-shredding title race

Arsenal had the chance to go seven points clear at the top of the Premier League last weekend but fell to a 3-2 home defeat to Manchester United. While manager Arteta praised the Red Devils, he said his side were not at their best.

The Spaniard told BBC Match of the Day: "You have to give credit to Manchester United. We gave them a goal which is unusual and painful, then they two brilliant moments with incredible goals. We were not at our best. In the first 30 minutes we were in total control, scoring a goal, but after that so many times we gave the ball away in important areas. We started to lose control and dominance and it became a chaotic game. The players deserve a lot of praise for the consistency. 

"When we lose a game I take the responsibility and I have to protect the players. We just gave it away. If you want to win you have to go through these moments and you can't expect to win every game, that's unrealistic. The margins are extremely small and we made them even smaller. Now we have to react and see what we are made of. Today we were not at our level and we paid the price."

Silva confidently stated that during his time at City, which began in 2017 after signing from Monaco, he has won six Premier League titles, while Liverpool have won the other two. Arsenal have finished as runners-up for three straight seasons and Silva was quick to remind the Gunners of that fact. He also said Pep Guardiola's side will never stop fighting.

He said: "In my experience here in England, Liverpool have won two league titles and we have won six, so I've never have experienced Arsenal winning the league. But the truth is that at the moment they're in a better position than us. I've recently said that both teams would still drop points, but unfortunately we started the year in a negative form, as we could've gained an emotional advantage and we didn't. And then they could've distanced themselves from us even further, but they didn't, so they gave us a bit of hope. There's still a lot of games to be played and every season is different. Without a doubt we still have hope and ambition to fight for this Premier League."

After City beat Galatasaray 2-0 in their last Champions League outing on Wednesday, as they reached the last 16 of the competition along with Arsenal, Silva said they are building up a head of steam again. The 31-year-old added that this team have a lot of "potential".

He told BBC Radio Manchester: "I feel this team has a lot of potential to be much better than it is now, but we are definitely in a much better place than we were three or even six months ago. From the inside, it feels like we are growing every day and if we can get some of the important characters back from injury then this team has a lot of potential."

Arsenal have the chance to go seven points clear of City on Saturday if they beat Leeds United at Elland Road, while Silva's side head to Tottenham a day later as they bid to close that gap. Meanwhile, Aston Villa, who are level on points with City in third, host Brentford on Sunday.