Aguero's absence unlikely to halt title defence

Mancini has an embarrassment of riches at his disposal

Manchester City fans at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday would have been forgiven for fearing the worst after Sergio Aguero fell down injured and was substituted early in the first half of the 3-2 victory over Southampton. The Argentine forward was one of Roberto Mancini's key men last season, netting 23 goals, including that late winner against QPR, on the way to claiming City's first title since 1968 and many would expect him to be sorely missed if out injured for any extended period. But would it really effect the Citizens that much? In fact, with the expensively assembled strike force Mancini has at his disposal it may even prove to be a blessing in disguise.

As it happens, Aguero's injury is only set to rule him out for four weeks. As there is an international break in this period that means he is only likely to miss Premier League clashes with Liverpool, QPR and Stoke City. The 24-year-old should be in contention in time for Arsenal's visit to the Etihad on 23rd September, a fixture in which the Argentine bagged the winner last season. The games Aguero will miss should aid Mancini in being able to provide additional playing time for his other big name strikers. With Carlos Tevez, Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko all fit and available City are even in a position to allow promising young Swedish forward John Guidetti, who netted 20 goals in 23 appearances for Feyenoord last year, go out on loan again, or perhaps be sold.

The three strikers who will be looking to fill the void for City all have their own tales to tell but it is undisputed that they are exceptional talents in their own right. Tevez seems to be a rejuvenated man at the start of this season and is already off to a flyer after netting in the Community Shield against Chelsea and opening the scoring against the newly-promoted Saints. After his disgraceful, self-enforced absence from the City squad last year, he returned in time to contribute to the title victory, scoring a memorable hat-trick at Carrow Road along the way and appears to have settled his differences with Mancini. As seen in the past, the former City captain has fire-power in abundance and he found the net 52 times in his first two seasons at the club following his controversial signature in 2009. With compatriot Aguero out of action, Tevez will see this as an opportunity to re-establish himself as the Citizens' main goal threat and with the likes of Samir Nasri, David Silva and Yaya Toure in the squad he should have plenty of service.

Then of course, there is Balotelli. The young Italian is never far away from the headlines although he is not always in Mancini's starting line up. An impressive Euro 2012 tournament for his country, the highlight being his man-of-the-match performance and brace in the semi-final victory over Germany, did great things for his reputation this summer and he will be hoping to establish himself as one of the Premier League's finest attacking talents this season. Again, Aguero's absence could give him the boost needed in terms of playing time to make himself first choice under Mancini. Now 22, the former-Internazionale forward needs to curb his temperament and maverick behaviour and focus all of his energies into playing football. The screamer he scored in that semi-final against Germany, as well as his over-head effort against Ireland in the group stage exemplified the qualities he can offer, but his embarrassing behaviour in the away fixture at Arsenal last year is still fresh in the memory. Mancini gave the impression that Balotelli may have played his last City game back then but clearly, as he has done with Tevez, the manager has valued the talent of the player highly enough to give him another chance.

Having said that, Balotelli wasn't the first choice substitute to partner Tevez once Aguero had been substituted on Sunday. That honour went to Dzeko, sometimes the forgotten man at City, but somebody who did have a huge reputation of his own before joining up with Mancini's squad in January 2011. The tall 26-year-old arrived from Wolfsburg in Germany for £27million and having earned the accolade of, alongside Brazilian Grafite, beating Gerd Muller and Uli Hoeness's record of most goals scored by two team-mates in a Bundesliga season (2008-09). He also finished as Bundesliga top scorer in 2009-10 and showed he had more to his game by adding ten assists in both of those seasons. Yet since he arrived in England he has struggled to nail down a position in the starting line-up, in no small part down to the quality of competition that City have for their striking berths. The Bosnian has had his moments at City, with a four-goal haul at White Hart Lane early last season chief among them. A goal in the crucial last day win over QPR last season and another in Sunday's victory over Southampton show that City's number 10 does have plenty to offer Mancini and like Balotelli and Tevez, he will be hoping that Aguero's absence gives him more of a chance to make an impression. With such an embarrassment of riches available to him, the Italian manager may actually be relieved that his selection dilemma is made slightly easier each week with the absence of his star striker. If two of the other trio can perform to their best over the next month, then the ex-Atletico Madrid man might not walk straight back into the first choice XI after all. Manchester United may have added Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa to their ranks, and Chelsea have brought in Eden Hazard and Oscar, but what is certain this season is that City are going to take some beating.