Man City star Erling Haaland's two-word Arsenal jibe backfires after Mikel Arteta confrontation

Erling Haaland's Manchester City form has dropped off a cliff since his war of words with Mikel Arteta in September. After City and Arsenal's dramatic 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium, tensions boiled over in fierce scenes, during which Haaland told Arteta to 'stay humble'.

Haaland had opened the scoring with his tenth Premier League goal in five Premier League matches before goals from Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel turned the game on its head. However, John Stones popped up in the 98th minute to earn a valuable point for Guardiola's City.

In an intense post-match altercation, Haaland was seen telling Arteta to stay humble before calling former City forward Gabriel Jesus a 'clown' as he defended Guardiola. But since his explosive start to the season, Haaland's form has dipped in recent weeks and his confidence is shot.

Haaland has scored just two goals from 8.03 xG in the Premier League since that exchange with Arteta. After ten in his first five appearances, he now has just two in his last seven and Haaland's position at the top of the scoring charts could be coming under threat in the near future.

Although Haaland has a lot of credit in the bank due to his incredible form over his first two seasons at City, the 24-year-old has not been at his best of recent late. Even in the damning 4-0 defeat to Tottenham on Saturday, Haaland could and should have scored at least one, if not more.

The Norwegian missed a hatful of opportunities throughout. He was denied by an excellent block from Ben Davies within the first five minutes before seeing an effort saved by Guglielmo Vicario. In total, Haaland had seven shots and even his the crossbar in the second half, unlucky not to score.

Ultimately, Haaland has been wasteful over the last two months, having only scored against Southampton and Brighton in the Premier League. He has netted three times in three matches for City in the Champions League since, as well as netting six in four for Norway - including a hat-trick against Kazakhstan last week.

Arteta and Arsenal won't have been enjoying Haaland's struggles too much, however, as their own form has come under question in recent times. Despite Saturday's 3-0 rout over Nottingham Forest, the Gunners had failed to win any of their last four in the league before that, which has left them off the pace in the title race.

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