Bernardo Silva has finally said what he really thinks about Liverpool as Arsenal truth emerges
Liverpool supporters would have been forgiven for rolling their eyes at the thought of Bernardo Silva talking about the Reds after Manchester City's 2-2 draw with Arsenal at the Etihad on Sunday afternoon.
After all, Silva has earned a reputation as a pantomime villain at Anfield in recent seasons as Liverpool and Manchester City - supported by Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola - went hell for leather to create one of the most remarkable rivalries the Premier League has seen since its inception in 1992.
For much of the Klopp-Guardiola era between 2016 and 2024, Silva was the antagonist for many at Liverpool as - aside from his talents - he endured a toxic relationship with Reds supporters.
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The notion that there was an underlying bit of needle between Silva and those of Liverpool persuasion was confirmed in July 2020 when Klopp's side arrived at the Etihad as the recently-crowed Premier League champions.
As a result, City - who had won the last two championships with a combined 197 points - were made to toss their egos aside and award the Reds a guard of honour. As you can imagine, Guardiola's players - particularly ex-Anfield prodigy Raheem Sterling and Silva - who had become staples of the fast-growing rivalry were less than impressed at the proposal.
In fact, Silva was so irritated by the concept - ironically the closest he and his team-mates had been to the Reds all season as they finished 18 points behind first place - that he fled the escort prematurely. And just weeks later, the former Benfica and AS Monaco playmaker would escalate the feud further as he labelled Liverpool fans' mocking of City's season as "pathetic" before telling fans to "drink a beer with a friend" or "read a book".
So the idea of Silva paying Liverpool - who have quietly gone about the post-Klopp rebuild - a compliment after dropping valuable points in the Premier League title race seemed far-fetched. But that's exactly what happened in the bowels of the Etihad on Sunday night as the midfielder proved that while the Reds may have been out of sight when it came to predicting who could end City's four seasons of dominance, they certainly aren't out of mind.
“The difference? I don’t know,” replied Silva when asked how City's rivalry with the Gunners compared to some of the recent classics with Liverpool. “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.”
Of course, the Gunners have asserted themselves as City's nearest challengers for the throne in recent campaigns as they evolved from top-four hopefuls to genuine title contenders after consecutive second-place finishes. The idea, though, that Arsenal are causing Guardiola sleepless nights similar to those he endured on the eve of fixtures against the Reds between 2018 and 2022 is simply not true.
Yes, the Gunners are 'only one title' away from matching Klopp's total from his storied stay at Anfield. But the fact of the matter is Liverpool's rivalry with City came at a time when they were perhaps the most feared side in Europe as they reached three Champions League and tallied 288 points across three different Premier League campaigns.
And those tallies of 97, 99 and 92 points are comfortably more than Mikel Arteta's side managed in the 2022/23 (84) and 2023/24 (89) seasons. In fact, the last time the Gunners broke the 90-point mark in a 38-game season, Facebook was just two months old, while Barcelona and Spain sensation Lamine Yamal was still three years off being born.
This weekend's nail-biter at the Etihad proved that Arsenal are moving in the right direction as they hunt for their first Premier League title since 2004. But Silva and Manchester City know the score, you'd be foolish to count Liverpool out of the race.
There will always be a special place for Liverpool reserved in the head of Bernardo Silva.