Why Erling Haaland has been DROPPED for Man City's clash against Premier League basement boys Wolves amid eight-game goal drought in open play

Haaland has not been left out of a City line-up since starting on the bench against Bayer Leverkusen on November 25 while he has not sat out an entire game since City's Carabao Cup tie at Swansea on October 29. And Guardiola admitted last week following the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Newcastle that Haaland was "exhausted". The Norwegian hitman badly under-performed during City's resounding 2-0 defeat at Manchester United and missed several chances in the shock 3-1 defeat at Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League on Tuesday. And Guardiola has finally taken action by leaving his top scorer out against Wolves, who are bottom of the Premier League table.

Guardiola explained to Sky Sports why he had left Haaland out:  "There are a lot of games. I want to, a little bit, clean his mind, his body. And yeah, the selection is always because I believe that for today it is the best."

Haaland spoke openly about his poor form and City's recent downturn in results following the defeat in Norway. He said: "I don't have the answers. I take full responsibility of not being able to score the goals I should do. I just apologize to everyone; every single Man City supporter and every single supporter that traveled today, because in the end it's embarrassing.

"Bodo they played some incredible football and in the end it's deserved. Honestly, I don't know what to say because I don't have the answers, and what I can say is sorry."

City's latest signing Marc Guehi made his debut for the club against Wolves following his arrival from Crystal Palace for £20m. He will partner Abdukodir Khusanov and will be expected to be bring some much-needed leadership and experience to a City defence that has been ravaged by injuries to John Stones, Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias.

Guehi explained how it felt to join Guardiola's side. He said: "This move feels like the culmination of all the hard work I have put into my career. I am now at the best club in England and part of an unbelievable squad of players. It feels good to be able to say that. I want to grow as a player and a person, and I know at this club that’s going to happen.  

"I love football – it has given me so much for so long – and to be able to continue my development at Manchester City is a really special moment for me and my family. I absolutely cannot wait to get started now. I want to meet my teammates, train hard, understand what the manager expects of me and then show the City fans what I can do."

Guardiola had another reason for resting Haaland against Wolves: to keep him sharp for Wednesday's crucial Champions League game against Galatasaray. City find themselves outside the top eight in the League Phase table heading into their final game against the Turkish giants. They need a win to stand a chance of finishing in the top eight and going straight into the knockout phase, and they will still need a couple of results to go their way to achieve that objective.

Fail to beat Galatasaray and City will have to play a two-legged play-off tie. Guardiola's side have bad memories of the play-offs as they were thrashed 6-3 on aggregate by Real Madrid last season, exiting the competition at the earliest stage since the Catalan coach's first season in charge in 2016-17.