Manchester City hope for a fit Sergio Aguero ahead of Chelsea fixture

Zee Media Bureau/Jayanta Oinam

London: Manchester City continue their impressive run at the Etihad Stadium. Thanks to this impressive home run, they are now leading the league table. After their 5-1 mauling of Tottenham Spurs at White Hart Lane, and a favourable 2-2 draw between Southampton and Arsenal, the Blues finally leapfrogged the Gunners to the top of the table. Citizens are at 53 points, one more than their London rivals after the end of round 23. Closely following them are another title contenders, Chelsea with 50 points. However, despite their impressive home performance, the Citizens will find it hard to keep their lead for long. Their next fixture is against a confident Chelsea side at the Greater Manchester stadium. In their first league encounter this season, the London club have defeated City at Stamford Bridge 2-1. While, the previous leaders, Arsenal will have a relatively easier home outing against Crystal Palace. So the points and the standing can shake-up easily after the next round. In this return game, on February 3, Manuel Pellegrini would seek revenge from the fellow title contenders. In their game against Spurs, City scored an impressive five goals, by as many players, thus giving the Chilean manager plenty of options in the scoring front. However, the Argentine striker`s hamstring injury during the London trip has demanded fresh outlook and team combination from the team boss. Aguero, who has so far scored 15 league goals for the club, is by far the most effective poacher for the team. No doubt, the beast in Yaya Toure has seemingly waken up during this campaign – tallying an impressive 11-goal count for a midfielder – however, it will be difficult to cope without their main striker against the schemes of Jose Mourinho. So, back-room staff and the fans of the Manchester club will hope to hear some good news regarding Aguero injury. Without him, they will struggle to find the scoring rhythm and keep the momentum going for a second league title in three seasons. For the record, Citizens have been scoring goals at an average of four per game this season in their domestic competitions.