Man City star Bernardo Silva writes off Man Utd title hopes

Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva has stoked the fire ahead of the Manchester Derby in less than two weeks after claiming that he does not see Manchester United as a title rival.

The two teams meet at the Etihad Stadium on November 11 with City top of the table on goal difference from Liverpool following their Monday night win over Tottenham.

Meanwhile, United are nine points adrift in eighth place having already lost three matches under Jose Mourinho.

And when the Portuguese forward was asked who he thought were City's main challengers for the Premier League crown were following their 1-0 victory at Wembley, he failed to name the champions' cross-town rivals. 

Only five points separate the top five – and Bernardo believes City's threat will come from that group, which also includes Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham.

“I think either Chelsea and Liverpool, they are very strong,” the 24-year-old told reporters. “Arsenal as well, even Tottenham. Even though they lost tonight, they’re still contenders.

“I think it will be harder because last season nobody was expecting us to win as many games and to reach that level of points so this season the teams they know they have to do better to beat us.

“Of course it will be very hard, but we will work every game to get the three points and at the end of it try and celebrate winning one more Premier League."

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Bernardo says City are keen to open up an advantage over the chasing pack, adding: “We know that we can still improve a lot.

"I think the beginning of the season was very good for us, even though we have the same points as Liverpool and the other teams are very close, but, it is what it is, we have to keep staying concentrated and to try to have a gap from those teams.”

Mourinho’s United are going through something of a troubled season, and defeat in the derby would be another serious blow to launching any kind of title challenge of their own.

The dominance of City and Liverpool is something that pains TV pundit former United defender Gary Neville.

“The last thing I want to see is Manchester City and Liverpool at the top of the league,” he said.

“Liverpool could potentially win the league this season and that does not even bare thinking about for a United fan."

Before the derby City have three matches in six days to contend with as they face Fulham in the Carabao Cup on Thursday, Southampton in the Premier League on Sunday and Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on November 7.

United, meanwhile, will be hopeful of builiding on their recent win over Everton when they travel to face Bournemouth on Saturday before taking on Serie A champions Juventus four days later in Turin.