Chelsea may be without star men Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas against Manchester City on Saturday, but Manuel Pellegrini's side have been struggling with a loss of their own.
The Premier League champions are yet to win a game since Yaya Toure left for the African Cup of Nations earlier this month and they will have to do without him again at Stamford Bridge.
With Toure in the side, City have won 14 of their 18 Premier League fixtures, losing one and drawing three of the four games the 31-year-old has missed.
Despite constant rumours of a move away from the Etihad, Toure remains a crucial part of City's midfield, often driving his team forward and scoring important goals - he already has nine for the season.
But with Toure's Ivory Coast through to the AFCON quarter-finals, there's little chance that the former Barcelona man will be back in action for City before mid-February should the Elephants continue to progress to the final.
Pellegrini will be hoping Toure and new signing Wilfried Bony return to England sooner rather than later with his side currently five points adrift of league leaders Chelsea..
Since the big midfielder left for Equatorial Guinea in early January, City have crashed out of the FA Cup after a 2-0 defeat against Middlesbrough and suffered defeat at the hands of Arsene Wenger's Arsenal.
With Toure in the side, City's win ratio comes close to 80 per cent, with an average of 2.2 goals scored compared to an average of 1.8 when he's absent.
Pellegrini will know City can ill afford another slip up or Toure will come back to Manchester to find his side further behind in the title race.
No comments:
Post a Comment