Manchester City star Bernardo Silva has admitted that Liverpool are "back" following Saturday's hard-fought 1-1 draw between the clubs, conceding it is also better for the Premier League overall that the Reds are competitive at the top of the table once more.
While City have won five of the last six titles and haven’t finished outside the top two since 2016/17 – Pep Guardiola’s first season in charge – to match the same run Manchester United enjoyed under Sir Alex Ferguson between 1995/96 and 2000/01, Liverpool have been more inconsistent.
In three of the last five seasons, Jurgen Klopp's team have gone over 90 points – twice finishing second with ridiculous tallies of 97 and 92. But in others during that period they have failed to reach 70 and last season finished outside the top four and missed out on Champions League qualification.
So far in 2023/24, Liverpool have been challenging at the top of the table and are two points off leaders Arsenal with a third of the campaign now played. City sit between them, while Aston Villa are level on points with Liverpool after an incredible transformation under Unai Emery.
"I think we should have won. But when you play a team like Liverpool, this season they are back being very competitive again," Silva reflected on the game.
"We expected it after a tough [2022/23] season for them. We knew their energy was going to be back so it’s going to be tough, not just with them but Arsenal, Spurs. But we are also ready to fight."
"We enjoy it more when we win but it’s nice for the Premier League and fans when it's this tight and there is emotion," the Portuguese added.
"We now have four teams who are very close to each other. We are going to try our best to get a little bit of distance. Last season wasn't nice to be so far behind Arsenal. We want to stay close to the top so when it gets to February, March we are in the discussion again to win the Premier League."
City's title last season, which was one third of a famous treble, was also their third in a row, matching the previous bests set by Huddersfield, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United, the latter doing it twice. No English club has ever won four successive league titles.
