Dzeko faces challenge to fill Aguero’s boots

With Sergio Aguero’s knee injury upgraded to a twisted medial ligament earlier this week, Manchester City fans are officially facing their worst case scenario: life without their Argentinian hitman.

How much will his absence hurt City this time? It certainly helps that his replacement scored 26 goals in all competitions last season, although Edin Dzeko has only struck twice in the Premier League this term and was injured himself for most of November.

Gap-filling aside, the chasm between Aguero and City’s next-top goalscoring forward is a huge 10 league goals, with Aguero’s 14 eclipsing the four scored by Stevan Jovetic and Yaya Toure.

That is easily the largest gap between attacking teammates in the Premier League, although QPR come closest with a gap of seven goals thanks to the recent form of top-scorer Charlie Austin, who has bagged eight, and the fact that only one other goal has come from a forward – Eduardo Vargas, who netted back in October.

If City are to replace the irreplaceable, the weight of Manchester — or half of it — will be on the shoulders of Dzeko.

If he can step into the breach as reliably as Drogba, then Aguero’s absence through injury will at least be pain-free for his team-mates.