Sport

Haaland’s goals won’t be enough for City to challenge for the title

For the first time in 12 games, Erling Haaland failed to find the back of the net and it showed for Manchester City. Without the Norwegian’s usual potency, Pep Guardiola’s team fell to a 1-0 loss away to Aston Villa. It was an illustration of how City need much more than just Haaland’s goals to challenge for the Premier League title.

Make no mistake, Haaland’s exploits this season have been remarkable. He has scored an incredible 11 goals in just nine Premier League outings as well as four goals in just three Champions League games. This is before Haaland’s tally of 12 goals in six World Cup qualifiers for Norway is even mentioned.

Nonetheless, Manchester City need others to contribute if they are to reach the heights of previous seasons. No player besides Haaland has scored more than a single league goal so far this term, highlighting just how dependent they are on the 25-year-old focal point to win matches and compete.

When City last won the Premier League two seasons ago, they had Phil Foden as a reliable source of goal threat. Indeed, the England international notched 19 goals in 35 appearances, giving Guardiola another way to hurt opponents. Since then, though, Foden has been a shadow of his former self.

Julian Alvarez also had a productive 2023/24 campaign, getting into double figures in the Premier League. However, the Argentine forward was sold to Atletico Madrid the next summer, leaving Manchester City short of a useful option in the final third. Alvarez should never have been allowed to leave.

Even Rodri found a way to get on the score sheet regularly, scoring eight goals as Manchester City finished top of the pile. Across the board, Guardiola had players he could count on to offer something in front of goal over the course of a full campaign. That is no longer the case.

Guardiola is attempting to remain positive after his team’s latest setback against Aston Villa, but the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss is surely concerned by what he has seen over the first few months of the 2025/26 season. Manchester City appear a long way off being genuine title contenders.

“From my experience it [the season] is so long. So long. This is my experience,” said Guardiola after Manchester City’s damaging loss at Villa Park. “There are many teams there and we have a good test against Bournemouth [next weekend], who are doing very well. We will try to do our game.

“I was worried before the [September] international break when we were 14th in the table and they were seven or eight points in front. Our job is not to look at the table. If they win all their games and win the Premier League, congratulations to them, that’s all we can do. But I have the feeling the team is alive, the team is good.”

Last season made clear that Manchester City were overdue a rebuild. By spending £400m in the January and summer transfer windows, the club signalled its intention to start again and reconstruct Guardiola’s team for the next few years, not just the immediate term. City are still at the start of that process.

It will take time for their reconstruction work to truly take root. Rayan Cherki has yet to settle. Omar Marmoush has shown his quality, but doesn’t have a clear role in Guardiola’s strongest lineup. Jeremy Doku and Savinho have obvious talent, but haven’t been able to find consistency as City players.

Meanwhile, Haaland continues to score for fun. He is the best penalty box finisher of his generation and Guardiola has subtly altered Manchester City’s playing style to get the best out of the Norwegian, operating more in quick transition this season. That might be enough to keep City moving forward, but it won’t make them champions on its own.