Manchester City captain Bernardo Silva said it was 'only natural' that Arsenal would 'man up' and challenge for titles after five years together.
Mikel Arteta's side are two games away from winning their first Premier League title since the Invincibles in the 2003-2004 season, but City are ready to pounce in case they slip up.
Having already beaten Arsenal in the League Cup final at Wembley in March, it looked as though City were going to leapfrog Arteta's men in the Premier League table too.
But a costly 3-3 draw with Everton has given Arsenal a two-point cushion heading into the penultimate weekend of Premier League action.
Arsenal take on Burnley on Monday night, before facing Crystal Palace on the final day of the season, while City take on Bournemouth on Tuesday night and Aston Villa in their last Premier League match this campaign.
Bernardo Silva said it is only natural that Arsenal would start challenging for titles. James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images If Arsenal do finally get over the line, Silva is clear when he speaks of his frustration at City letting opportunities slip.
He said in an interview with the Athletic: "Yeah, they've been growing and well, 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.
"No, I'm not in love [with Arsenal].
"I do believe our main rivals [in his time at City] 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."
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One of the big talking points in both the title race and the battle for Premier League survival came on Sunday when West Ham fell to a 1-0 loss at the hands of Arsenal.
Nuno Espirito Santo's men did equalise in stoppage time through Callum Wilson but after a lengthy VAR check, Pablo was adjudged to have fouled David Raya in the build-up.
That caused much controversy among both fans of West Ham and Manchester City but Silva does not see why.