City have surrendered their lead at the top of the table in recent weeks and now trail local rivals Manchester United by five points with seven games left to play.

United could extend that advantage to eight points by beating Queens Park Rangers before City take on Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium later on Sunday afternoon.

Roberto Mancini has already admitted that City's title bid will be over if the gap becomes eight points by the end of the weekend and Silva is of a similar mindset.

The Manchester derby at the end of the month had previously been expected to be the decisive game in the title race, but Silva has outlined the importance of beating the Gunners.

"The derby against United is important for many reasons, but our big final is in London against Arsenal," said Silva in The People.

"If we don't win at Arsenal, then the derby will not be decisive.

"Now we're at the crunch point of the season and, if we want to keep up our chances of the title, we have to win against Arsenal, that is the only possible result for us."