Pep Guardiola’s side have struggled in recent weeks, losing 5-2 to Leicester before being held to a draw by Leeds. However, their fortunes may be about to change.Manchester City’s signing of Benfica defender Rúben Dias should go some way to shoring up their leaky defence, but they’ve also struggled at the other end of the pitch, failing to be clinical in recent weeks.A lot of that is down to the injuries of Sergio Agüero and Gabriel Jesus. Both strikers have been struggling for fitness, with the former yet to feature this season and the latter having only appeared on opening day, a match where he scored as City saw off Wolves 3-1.In their absence, teenage forward Liam Delap — son of former Stoke City midfielder, Rory Delap — has attempted to fill the void, scoring on his debut in the Carabao Cup against Bournemouth and coming off the bench versus Leicester.Raheem Sterling, too, has played up front, and scored City’s only goal at Elland Road last time out, but it still feels worlds away from what we know City are capable of. Indeed, however they try and patch things up, nothing compares to having the South American duo fit and firing on all cylinders.Now, though, there seems to be some hope on the horizon. Star striker Agüero was pictured training with his teammates for the first time today, providing City fans with renewed optimism that he may be fit and back in contention after the international break.
Agüero’s record at City speaks for itself: he’s the club’s record goalscoring, having found the back of the net on over 250 occasions in all competitions since joining in 2011. Still only 32, Guardiola will be hoping Agüero can come back into the fold and continue to build on his fine goal tally.
At times, it’s felt as though defending has become an afterthought this season. And with score lines like 5-2, 6-1 and 7-2 cropping up every weekend, Agüero must be chomping at the bit to get back out onto the pitch.
Given his track record, we wouldn’t rule him out of the golden boot race, even if he is starting six goals behind Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Over to you, Sergio.