Bernardo Silva has named the one Arsenal moment in the 2023/24 season that gave Manchester City the boost they needed to win the Premier League title.
Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola’s sides went toe-to-toe for the title for the second season running.
Arsenal pushed the champions to the final day of the season this time, but Manchester City proved to be too good again in the end.
Silva has now had his say on what decided the title race.
Bernardo Silva names Arsenal moment that gave Manchester City a big boost
We’re all sad that Arsenal missed out on the Premier League crown to Manchester City, but it has to be said that it was a phenomenal title race.
The second half of the season saw plenty of twists and turns, and all three clubs – Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool – had the title in their own hands at one point or another.
However, Manchester City showed their class in the end, and Guardiola’s side deserves praise for not losing a single game in the league from the first week of December 2023 until the end of the campaign.
As for Arsenal, there are plenty of games that we can point the finger at and say that’s where the Gunners lost the Premier League title.
Dropping points in both games against Fulham, losing to West Ham at home and even the draw against Manchester City at the Etihad played a factor.
However, Silva has now claimed that he and his teammates were really surprised when Arsenal lost to Aston Villa at home in April.
The Portugal international has pointed at that result and claimed it gave City the boost that eventually helped them retain their Premier League title.
He told Sky Sports: “Well, definitely these types of situations are a boost to the confidence and to the energy that you have in the dressing room because you feel that you have an opportunity again.
“We knew that both Liverpool, and Arsenal, and us as well, we had tough games, but to be honest, we weren’t expecting them to lose against Palace at home, Liverpool, and Arsenal to lose against Aston Villa.
“If I had to guess where they would drop points, it wouldn’t have been that weekend.
“So it was a big surprise for us, and it gave us, obviously we’re not going to lie, a bit of confidence to think we can go after them and we can grab it again.”
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The one area Arsenal need to improve to dethrone Manchester City in 2024/25
Even though Arsenal finished second in the Premier League again, they have shown improvement.
The Gunners finished the season with 89 points, five more than what they achieved in the previous campaign. Arteta’s side also scored more goals and conceded fewer, which is a big positive.
Arsenal will have to go up another level in the 2024/25 season to win the Premier League title, and we’re sure Arteta will demand improvement in one area – home form.
In the 18 Premier League games at the Emirates in 2023/24, Arsenal dropped 10 points. Seven of those were against Fulham, West Ham and Aston Villa.
Arsenal just cannot give up points against these sides, especially at home. If they rectify this issue next season, there’s every chance they’ll finish the season as champions.