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Bernardo Silva has admitted he did not expect Liverpool to become Manchester City’s biggest rivals when he first arrived at the Etihad, but the Portuguese now sees the Reds as the club’s main challengers from his time in England.
It is a striking admission from one of Pep Guardiola’s most trusted players, especially given the number of fierce battles City have had with Arsenal and Manchester United during Silva’s spell.
Liverpool, though, are the side he pointed to immediately. The midfielder made that point very clearly when discussing which side have pushed City the hardest.
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Credit: Izzy Poles/AMA/Getty Images Bernardo Silva surprised Liverpool are Man City’s biggest rivals
Speaking to The Official Manchester City podcast, he said: “Well, when you have a team that is close to you, competing with you, for example, when we won in the first years, in the beginning, when I arrived, I wasn’t expecting Liverpool to become our rival. And then they became our rivals”.
It is the kind of line the Reds supporters will take real satisfaction from, given how intense the Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp era became. Silva has been at City since 2017, which means he has lived through every major chapter of that modern rivalry.
That history is what separates Liverpool from everyone else in his eyes. City edged the Reds to the title by a single point in 2018/19, and they did it again by one point in 2021/22. Those campaigns demanded 98, 97, 93 and 92 points from the two teams across the final table. Few rivalries in Premier League history have produced that kind of standard.
Silva also made a point of bringing Liverpool’s most recent success into the conversation. He added: “And even they won last season, so that has to mean something.” That line matters because it shows he is not talking only about the Klopp years or about a rivalry frozen in the past. He is acknowledging that the current champions have carried that threat into a new era under Arne Slot.
The league table backs him up. The Merseyside outfit were champions in 2024/25, finishing 13 points clear of City after 38 matches. That title was the Reds’ 20th top-flight crown and another reminder that, even after Guardiola’s dominance, the Manchester outfit still measure themselves against what is happening at Anfield.
Liverpool fans do not need Manchester City players to validate what this fixture has become, but Silva’s comments still land because they come from someone who has been in the middle of it all. He has seen the points totals, the pressure, the direct meetings and the trophies split between the two clubs. He has also seen rivals come and go without sustaining that same level over several seasons.
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