Following their victory against AS Roma in the Champions League that saw them qualify for the Round of 16 on Wednesday, Manchester City will be looking to continue their run of victories as they travel to the King Power Stadium to take on bottom of the table Leicester City.
Manuel Pelligrini, whose side have won their last five consecutive games in all competitions, is without the irreplaceable Sergio Aguero who is recovering from a hamstring injury that he suffered against Everton, where he was taken off after the first few minutes of the match. Pellegrini was put to the test in mid-week, when a 2-0 victory, saw them qualify even without Sergio Aguero, which proved that they are performing well without the Argentine striker.
His manager spoke of his absence in the pre-match press conference, saying: ''Sergio was in a very good moment [before he was injured], scoring a lot of goals, but for him to score those goals was also because the team played an important way to be an offensive team."
Elsewhere, captain Vincent Kompany is set to return as he was not risked away at Roma after a spell out with a hamstring injury whilst playmaker David Silva could start after returning from a knee injury as a substitute in Rome. In addition, midfielder Yaya Toure is available after his European suspension.
Leicester on the other hand, are looking to turn around a poor rut of form. After a promising start, where they took excellent results like they did against the Manchester-based side back earlier in the season in a 5-3 win. Nigel Pearson will be without Kasper Schmeichel however, who has been ruled out for at least six weeks for the club after breaking a metatarsal in training, meaning Ben Hamer will his replacement in goal. Captain Wes Morgan returns from suspension after a straight red card sustained against Liverpool in a 1-3 loss and Ritchie De Laet is available after illness. Leonardo Ulloa (leg) is fit, Dean Hammond (calf) is back in training and Matt Upson is close to a return after a long-term foot injury but will not play.
City goalkeeper Joe Hart, who was in excellent form on Wednesday evening, says he expects an equally as difficult game this weekend. ''We are going to get hard game from Leicester," said the England no.1 "They have struggled a bit recently with results but they have just fallen the wrong side of the odd goal.''
Nigel Pearson, Leicester manager, said: "My focus is on this next game, and we welcome the Champions. It’s a game that we’ll need to be at our best for, if not better. Whoever they select, it remains a tough game. It’s our next game and we need a result. We know that whoever plays for them they’ve got an exceptionally strong squad and we’ll have to be able to deal with whatever team they select."