Kevin De Bruyne thinks that Manchester City's opponents have contributed towards making it harder for Erling Haaland to hit the headlines.
Haaland scored the 28th league goal of an astonishing season at Crystal Palace on Saturday, but as his rate has slowed slightly since the World Cup questions have been asked about why he hasn't been effective and if his teammates are utilising him as well as they can. Pep Guardiola has said in recent weeks that the team do need to find his runs more, but he has also missed a number of good chances to add to his haul
De Bruyne, who answered questions on his own form after the win over Palace, believes there is a combination of factors at play but places significant importance on the role of the opposition. Not only are they more used to playing City, they are also playing for more themselves.
Also read: Every word from Guardiola and De Bruyne ahead of Leipzig
"I think it's a little bit of everything but I don't think it's more different than in the beginning.," he said. "Other teams are maybe more anticipating his runs, but there's always a first part and a second part of the season.
"There's a lot more going on, teams are more organised and play for more at both ends of the table. People are more prepared in every sense and maybe he was also a little bit more prolific when we got the chances but we don't need to complain about Erling in any way.
"He's fine. If you see the Crystal Palace game he had two or three chances, I don't think there's any issue but people are always anticipating he will score two or three goals where probably his average is a goal a game. He seems fine to me.
"In the last few years people would say there is not enough presence in the box or deep runs and now people say the opposite. In the beginning of the season when everything was going in and we were winning a lot there was nothing going wrong and then when you lose a few points it's different.
"I don't think there's any issue. I've not heard anything from the team or Erling or anyone else I know. People outside will judge on how we play and maybe sometimes the brand is better in other games or other years but Crystal Palace at home, for instance, he won us the game.
"The team is really happy with him, he's really happy playing with us."
READ NEXT:
