Richard Keys slammed over Raheem Sterling penalty claim after Man City star sets record

Ex- Sky Sports regular Richard Keys has received backlash for his thinly-veiled suggestion that Raheem Sterling is winning an extraordinary amount of penalties by diving.

The former presenter took to Twitter to write: "Raheem Sterling has now ‘won’ 26 penalties during his PL career - plus a few in an England jersey.

"That’s more than any other player during the same period. Draw your own conclusions. I hope officials do soon."

However, the general consensus is that Sterling simply wins more penalties than most due to a mixture of his own individual playing style and Manchester City's attacking set-up.

Few teams dominate their opponents quite like Pep Guardiola's men, who inevitably spend more time in opposition penalty areas than the majority of the other sides in the Premier League.

As a result, the likelihood someone with the playing style of Sterling, who is so often timing perfect late runs into the box, getting fouled more often is greater than that of a different player.

This was the case during City's 2-0 home win over Brentford on Wednesday night.

Sterling was fouled inside the area after Mads Roerslev's clumsy challenge left referee Darren England with little choice but to point to the spot.

The decision made history as it marked the 23rd Premier League penalty that Sterling has won since making his top-flight debut with Liverpool back in 2012.

Keys' tweet has since been flooded with replies disagreeing with his claim and pointing out the number of reasons as to why Sterling has won plenty of spot-kicks.

One user wrote: "What an odd tweet Richard. Sterling has played 310 games, so on average it’s a penalty every 11 games…hardly prolific.

"He runs at pace over 5-10yards better than most, which leads to