Queens Park Rangers will go into Sunday's early kick-off with dethroned champions Manchester City knowing that only a win will keep their fanciful hopes of Premier League survival alive.

City, meanwhile, will be looking to consolidate their position in the top three of the Premier League, if possible keeping up the pressure for second on Arsenal, who play on Monday night against Swansea City.

Though French playmaker Samir Nasri has been ruled out of contention for the rest of the season, under-pressure City boss Manuel Pellegrini has been boosted by the news that Yaya Touré and Vincent Kompany have made their recoveries from injury - though neither are certain to feature in this encounter.

Chris Ramsey has claimed that his squad is down to the "bare bones" as they cling on for dear life at the wrong end of the league table, and it is easy to see why. Steven Caulker, Clint Hill, Bobby Zamora and Mauricio Isla are all doubtful, Nedum Onuoha is suspended, Rio Ferdinand remains on compassionate leave, and Eduardo Vargas and Alejandro Faurlín are unavailable through injury.

The Citizens have a good overall record against QPR, with 22 wins, 18 draws and only 12 losses. However, both of the last two encounters between these two sides have been draws, with Charlie Austin and a Martín Demichelis own goal sealing a point for the R's at Loftus Road earlier this season.

However, clearly the most memorable clash between the two came at the end of the 2011-12 season, with the Blues coming from behind to win their first Barclays Premier League title in dying seconds of the game.

One man who scored in both of the aforementioned games is Sergio Agüero, and his manager says that the Argentina forward can be as important for his side as Lionel Messi is for Barcelona.

"First we need to find our own Messi because he makes the difference," Pellegrini said in a press conference. "I think that the project of this club is to try to improve every year as a club in all senses and every department.

"We have a very important player in Kun and we have a lot of other good players. Barcelona have not only Messi but Suárez, Neymar, Busquets, Iniesta and Xavi just to begin. For Real Madrid, I can say six good players and for Bayern, it is the same thing. I think it’s important for Kun to improve every year and play all the games. He’s growing every year and I hope that he’ll be as important for this team as those players are for those teams."

In the opposing dressing room, influential midfielder Leroy Fer says that his team-mates are not going to go down without a fight, insisting that coach Ramsey has been "unlucky".

“We have to do everything to try to win the game,” Fer told the club's official website. “It is not over until you are down. We must try to win the game. We also have to do everything we can not to concede an early goal because if they do that, they can just play around you and score more.”

“Chris has been a good presence for us, and has been unlucky. When he stepped in, I feel he made us play better. He has done a good job, but like I said, we have been unlucky.”

The game at the Etihad Stadium is Sunday's early kick-off, at 13:30BST before Chelsea and Liverpool face off later in the afternoon. We'll have all the build-up, minute-by-minute commentary and reaction throughout the day, right here on VAVEL.