Why have Man City stopped scoring freely? 71 shots, three goals and the Erling Haaland drop-off

Pep Guardiola wants Manchester City to score more goals.

In their last three games, City have peppered Chelsea, Brentford and Bournemouth but have been left frustrated with just one goal in each game. They have tried everything and shot from everywhere, but just haven't been able to turn their dominance into a more comfortable scoreline.

So while the Blues have recorded seven valuable points, the drop-off in goal-scoring has been a notable point of concern among City fans and also within the first team building. So why have Pep Guardiola's side suddenly stopped scoring?

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Firstly, a look at the headline statistics explains a lot. Of City's 71 shots on goal in the three games, 22 have been on target, 24 have been off target, with 25 blocked efforts. According to expected goals, City accumulated a total of 6.78 xG from their 71 shots, therefore underperforming by between three and four goals.

The chances blocked (35 per cent) carry a low expected goals value given most came from half-chances or scrambles in the box. There has been some good defending against them, notably Ben Mee's brilliant goal-line clearance from Oscar Bobb that would have carried a high xG, but in general blocked shots point more to City's dominance in the games rather than poor finishing.

Then there is the off-target chances. While some were long-range efforts or snapshots that easily missed the target, others highlight where City have really missed golden opportunities to make their games more comfortable - with Erling Haaland particularly culpable. Against Chelsea,