Bernardo Silva aims dig at Arsenal with Premier League title claim

Bernardo Silva says Man City would have beaten Arsenal to the title if they were not in a ‘transitional season’ (Premier League)

Bernardo Silva believes Manchester City would have beaten Arsenal to win the Premier League if they were not in a ‘transitional season’.

Arsenal are in pole position to win their first Premier League title since 2004 as they sit two points clear of City with two games remaining.

Mikel Arteta’s side can extend their advantage to five points with a win at home to Burnley on Monday night before City travel to Bournemouth next Tuesday, three days after their FA Cup final against Chelsea.

On the final day of the season, Arsenal are away to Crystal Palace, while City host Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium.

Silva, meanwhile, believes that during his nine years at City, Liverpool have been his main title rivals and claims Arsenal would not be on course to win the leagueif City ‘didn’t make so many mistakes’.

Arsenal are two points clear of Manchester City with two Premier League games to go (NurPhoto/Shutterstock)

‘They’ve [Arsenal] been growing and it’s a team that has been together for, what, five years now, so it’s only natural that they would man up a little bit and start challenging for titles, so, yeah, let’s see what happens,’ Silva said in an interview with The Athletic.

‘No, I’m not in love. I do believe our main rivals were Liverpool by far. I also believe, and I know this is very subjective, that if we were not in a transitional season and if we didn’t make so many mistakes, we would have won this league.

‘I don’t say we would have won easily but we would have won this league. So it’s quite frustrating.’

Silva described the decision to rule out West Ham’s goal against Arsenal last weekend for the foul on David Raya as ‘quite frustrating’ due to the lack of consistency from officials at set-pieces.

The City midfielder also echoed the criticism from Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler regarding time-wasting at set-pieces this season.

‘I think it’s a foul,’ Silva said.

Bernardo Silva has bemoaned the lack of consistency from officials at set-pieces (Getty)

‘The only problem is the consistency of the referees. It’s not just this. It’s everything that happens around, so in this picture you see three or four fouls taking place. It’s a foul, but it’s quite frustrating when they allow this type of contact at times during the season and then they decide not to allow it in such a game.

‘It’s a shame. The Premier League is such a good product in terms of the referees letting the game flow and not whistling every challenge. All of this helps to make it the best league in the world in my opinion.

‘But then on the other hand, you look at what has been happening with set-pieces in the last two seasons and it’s a bit of a shame to see teams taking one minute over throw-ins, free kicks, goal kicks, corners… I wouldn’t say that’s the way the game should be going.’

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