Is Erling Haaland becoming a problem for Manchester City and Pep Guardiola?

Is Erling Haaland becoming a problem for Manchester City and Pep Guardiola?

That seems a ludicrous question to ask with the team top of the Premier League and Haaland top of the scoring charts.

But City's exit to Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals and Haaland's few touches and failure to find the net in that tie has raised the uncomfortable question of whether the team play better when their line is led by a false nine rather than arguably the best No 9 in the world, who set a new Premier League goalscoring record (36) in his first season.

It follows criticism a few weeks ago from Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane, following City's 0-0 draw with Premier League title rivals Arsenal. "In front of goal he's the best in the world, but his general play for such a player - it is so poor. Not just today. He has to improve that," said Keane.

"He's almost like a League Two player - that's the way I look at him. His general play has to improve. It will do over the next few years. [He's a] brilliant striker but he has to improve his overall game."

City's exceptional display in the recent 4-1 thrashing of Aston Villa without their big man was a reminder of what they can do in his absence.

Here we take a look at the debate, with the views of Guardiola and Sky Sports' Paul Merson - and what the stats say…

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Unsurprisingly, Guardiola is standing by his main striker.

In the wake of the Keane quotes, he said of Haaland: "He's the best striker in the world and he helped us win what we won last season. The reason why we didn't create many chances [vs Arsenal] was not Erling, it's that we need more presence in the final third