Silva can Bern off big rivals

STRAIN: Guardiola to win the Premier League again against different opponents, stronger opponents in my opinion, so it will be a tough season.

“Last season at this stage we had two more points.

“I think we’re doing pretty well anyway and we just want to keep doing the same thing and forget about last season.”

For 80 minutes against Watford, Pep Guardiola’s team had been cruising to victory, but they had to dig deep in the last minutes after Abdoulaye Doucoure pulled a goal back.

“In France there are a lot of physical teams but in England a lot more,” said Silva. “In the last minutes there are the long balls with very tall and strong guys up front.

“It’s still good to win like this. Sometimes you have to suffer and we knew we were going to be playing against a very strong side.”

Chelsea on Saturday promises to be a tougher test of City’s credentials.

“Chelsea this season, as far as we can see, try to play and control the game like us,” Silva said.

“When you are leading the league and winning almost every game teams try to see your weaknesses.

“Our job is to try to make the least mistakes we can and keep winning our games and try to make this gap a little bit bigger in the months of December and January.”