Sergio Aguero faces a longer than expected layoff with his knee injury, but could be back in action for the visit to Stamford Bridge in January.
The Manchester City star has been in sensational form this season, to such an extent some claim he is even playing the best football of his career. Aguero has hit 14 goals in 15 matches as the Etihad Stadium club look to win a third league title in the space of four years, and he has five goals in as many UEFA Champions League games including a hat-trick against Bayern Munich.
So the City support held their collected breath on Saturday afternoon when the Argentine went down holding his knee in the early exchanges of the clash with Everton, in which the champions won by a single Yaya Toure penalty. The striker was immediately ruled out of the crunch Roma match on Wednesday, and it was initially thought he would miss around four weeks of the campaign.
However, it now appears as though the former Atletico Madrid striker could be out for a longer period. Speaking ahead of that vital test in the Italian capital, in which City need to win or at least draw more than 1-1 and hope CSKA Moscow fail against Bayern, head coach Manuel Pellegrini said: “four, five, maybe six weeks. It depends a lot on how he recovers. But our team does not depend on one player.”
Six weeks from the injury blow would include an absence of nine matches, including the fixture with the Giallorossi this week and an FA Cup third round visit of Sheffield Wednesday. It would also include Premier League matches at Everton and at home to Arsenal, although it would place him in contention for the crucial trip to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea on 31 January.
Jose Mourinho’s side lost at Newcastle United on Saturday, and with City collecting a victory later in the day, their lead at the top of the table has been cut to three points. However, the Londoners remain hot favourites to break the Manchester stranglehold and win a first title since Carlo Ancelotti led them to glory in 2010, and even more so if Aguero’s return proves to be problematic.
Should City now forget about rushing Aguero back and just concentrate on the Chelsea match? Let us know what you think by joining in the discussion below.
