Raheem Sterling has now gone eight matches without scoring.In fact, he hasn't scored or assisted since December 27.The Manchester City star started the season on fire, scoring a hat-trick on the opening day against West Ham before following that up with goals against Tottenham and Bournemouth.But his - and City's - form has fallen off a cliff recently as they trail Liverpool by 22 points at the top of the table.There will be no third consecutive Premier League title for City and all attentions will now turn to the Champions League.

If they’re to win Europe’s elite competition, Sterling will need to improve.

So what exactly has happened to him?

Well, Liverpool fans think they know.

Many of them are claiming that Sterling hasn’t been the same since he was bulled by Joe Gomez at Anfield.

Back in November, Liverpool beat City 3-1 but a moment between England teammates Gomez and Sterling made headlines.

The pair squared up before the Liverpool defender picked up Sterling. It didn’t go down well with the former Liverpool player.

In fact, he was still so angry about it 24 hours later that he lashed out at Gomez at England’s training camp leaving Gomez with a hefty scratch on his face.

It saw England boss Gareth Southgate initially drop Sterling from the squad.

So is that the reason behind his dip in form?

Sterling has played 19 games in total since that afternoon at Anfield and has scored just six goals - two of which came against Oxford in the League Cup.

They’re not the numbers we’ve come to expect from Sterling.

Against Spurs on Sunday, he was lucky to avoid a red card for a nasty tackle on Dele Alli, while he could have received a second yellow card for a dive after Ilkay Gundogan's missed penalty.

As for Gomez, he's established himself as Virgil van Dijk’s partner since that win against Sterling’s City and has been in quite incredible form.

It may just be a coincidence but Liverpool fans are claiming that Gomez’s intervention has had a massive effect on Sterling’s current struggles while dramatically improved their player's fortunes.

It seven matches time, Sterling might have to give Gomez a guard of honour at the Etihad. That will go down well with Liverpool fans...