Arsenal legend makes honest admission about Premier League title race with Liverpool

Arsenal legend Gilberto Silva has admitted that Liverpool's reemergence has made the Gunners' bid to win the Premier League more difficult.

The Reds under new manager Arne Slot top the Premier League with 28 points and sit nine ahead of Arsenal, who fought it out with defending champions Manchester City in the previous two campaigns. The Dutchman has picked up the most points in the opening 11 league games out of any Liverpool manager in Premier League history.

And with both Man City without Rodri and Arsenal suffering injuries to key players in the early stages of the season, the Reds appear primed to head into the New Year as one of the favorites to be crowned Champions come May.

Gilberto, an Arsenal Invincibles and Brazil 2002 World Cup winner, says it's not time for the Gunners to panic just yet - but says they'll have to rectify some early mistakes, especially with Liverpool going strong in the Premier League title race.

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"The season hasn't started as we expect them to," Gilberto admitted. "The last few years have been so nice. They have done well fighting for the title. And then we expect them to have a great start. But it's not the end of the world. There's a lot of games to be played."

"The question is about recovering the points and not losing silly points," the 48-year-old continued. "Because it's going to be a tough season again. Not only against City, but Liverpool is back.

"And then we have other teams who are doing very well. So it's going to be very tough until the end. They have to recover. And not only win the games at home but especially away games."

It's not only Liverpool and City that Arsenal have to worry about either. Chelsea have also enjoyed a positive start to their 2024/25 campaign under Enzo Maresca. The West London club is third and like Arsenal, nine points off Liverpool.

"In some games, you can't hold the ball so much," Gilberto said on what Arsenal need to do between now and the end of the season.

"But it's just about them focusing on what they have to do for the team to perform. It's important for everyone to focus on what they have to do in order to win the games and especially kill the game when they have to."

Gilberto Silva faced World Cup teammate Roberto Carlos in football match Strive Aid to raise money and awareness for suicide prevention charity the Campaign Against Living Miserably