Haaland still world’s best striker — Guardiola

Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, said on Friday that Erling Haaland is the best striker in the world, but has yet to confirm if the player will start against Liverpool on Sunday.

In his last 12 appearances, Haaland has had diminishing stats by scoring just twice, prompting Guardiola to bench him in a 3 – 1 win over Newcastle in the League Cup semi-final second leg on Wednesday.

Since becoming the fastest player to reach 100 Premier League goals, Haaland has lost the incredible form that made him lead the season’s goalscoring campaign after netting 19 goals in 14 games in all competitions. 

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City have subsequently struggled during Haaland’s dip, falling six points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal.

The Norwegian scored when City beat Liverpool 3-0 earlier this season, but Guardiola would not reveal if he will feature against Arne Slot’s side this weekend.

“I don’t know until tomorrow. But all I say is Erling is the best. Erling is the best striker in the world,” Guardiola told reporters on Friday.

When asked about the rumours that surround his contract at City, he said, “I have one more year on my contract. It is the same answer I answered two months ago.”