David Silva has claimed that Manchester City are aiming to be level on points with leaders Manchester United by the end of February.

The Premier League champions are currently seven points behind their local rivals in the table.

However, Silva believes that City can take inspiration from last season when they clawed back an even larger deficit with only a handful of games remaining.

"It won't be easy, but our challenge is to be back level with Manchester United by the end of February," the Spaniard told reporters.

"Last year we saw how they were in front by quite a lot of points, and we won the league anyway, so it can be done."

Manchester City travel to sixth-placed Arsenal in the league on Sunday.