Fantasy managers are on red alert this evening after Sergio Aguero was forced off after just six minutes of City’s 1-0 home win over Everton. Clearly distraught, the Argentine left the pitch in tears amid fears he’s set to spend a spell on the sidelines and post-match, Manuel Pellegrini could offer little to reassure us.
When quizzed on his star striker’s injury, the City boss could only offer:
“Sergio has a knee ligament problem and we will see tomorrow how serious it is. It is not good news and we will see tomorrow when he [visits the doctor] but he won’t be able to play next week. We must wait for the doctor to see how [bad it is] but the important thing is he won’t be fit for the Roma game. We will see tomorrow, but at the moment, we’re not sure [about the length of the injury].”
City travel to Roma on Wednesday in the Champions League and we can certainly expect an early-week prognosis from Pellegrini, affording us time to re-assess our three-man frontlines ahead of the weekend.
Clearly, if Aguero has indeed suffered ligament damage, our worst fears will be realised and could force him out of contention for some time. The South American has lit up the Premier League with 14 goals and three assists and proven the most reliable captaincy contender around – with a goal or assist in 10 of his 15 appearances, Aguero’s explosive potential has seen him serve up hauls of 19, 13 and 16 points in the last eight Gameweeks.
In spite of his displays for Chelsea, Diego Costa, by comparison, has produced a top score of seven points from Gameweek 5 onwards. Whilst the Blues striker is the obvious alternative if Aguero is ruled out, his inability to earn bonus makes him a less appealing captaincy contender. Indeed, with the likes of Alexis Sanchez suffering since moving out wide and Eden Hazard yet to score away from home, Aguero’s possible absence would make the armband conundrum that little bit more difficult in any given Gameweek, as our heavy-hitters struggle for consistency.
Up front, Aguero’s withdrawal came on a day that eight of 14 teams failed to find the net – underlying the paucity of options for our three-man frontlines right now. Charlie Austin’s fine form continued only for the R’s frontman to be sent off against Burnley, leaving the likes of Wilfried Bony, Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie the chance to stake a claim for consideration over the next couple of days’ action. Edin Dzeko and Stevan Jovetic could prove unlikely heroes for City but bearing in mind that Aguero has played a part in 65% of his side’s goals when on the pitch this season, the pair have big shoes to fill.
Perhaps we shouldn’t get too ahead of ourselves but Aguero’s previous when it comes to injuries has many owners understandably on edge. Given that City now face Leicester, Palace, West Brom, Burnley and Sunderland in successive matches, we’ll hold fire for now in the hope that Pellegrini’s initial prognosis was wide of the mark but exit plans will be tentatively penciled in as we eagerly await the next update.
