Can Manchester City cope without Sergio Aguero?

This isn't the sight City fans wanted to see

Manchester City won last night to advance in the Champions League but how will their Premier League challenge cope with him missing until mid-January?

Losing Sergio Aguero at any stage of the season is Manuel Pellegrini's worst nightmare.

For it to happen on the eve of the hectic Christmas schedule - City will play seven games between December 10 and January 3 - could be considered calamitous for the champions.

Pellegrini had set his players a clear target of trimming Chelsea's advantage by collecting a minimum of 21 points from their final eight league games of 2014.

Four wins down that road and with Chelsea slipping up, City are ahead of schedule. They can ill afford to give back anything to the league leaders. Will they cope without the assistance of their Argentine predator?

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The timeframe for Aguero's recovery has been set in the typical 4-6 weeks category. Exactly how the specifics of that work out could prove crucial.

Five weeks on from his injury against the Toffees. City will travel to Goodison for the reverse fixture with Everton. A week later, Arsenal are at the Etihad.

Having Aguero back for one or both games will be important but when they travel to Stamford Bridge on January 31, the reigning champions will be desperate to have a fully fit Aguero in tow.

City's squad depth has been a flagship beacon of their new-found status within the English game and it is for times exactly like this that the club's owners have recruited a plethora of talent.

Over the Christmas period, Pellegrini must demonstrate that his squad can stand up to the test.

As stated from the outset, there simply is no good time to lose someone of Aguero's game-changing ability. With eight goals in seven appearances prior to Saturday the striker was single-handedly hauling City's season along.

His teammates now have the chance to prove that Manchester City are not a one-man band.

City have taken 25 points from the last 30 available and have reeled Chelsea back within touching distance. Where many had predicted there would be no title race, Pellegrini's side have sown doubt in Chelsea's minds.

Beginning with a trip to Leicester on Saturday and culminating with Sunderland visiting the Etihad on New Year's Day, City have five league games over the festive season.

The opposition dictates that this spell, without Aguero, is something of a double-edge sword.

Five eminently winnable fixtures - West Brom, Crystal Palace and Burnley the remaining three - tells us this could be the right time to lose their chief goal scorer (if there was going to be such a thing).

The flip side - with Chelsea's strength on display for all to see and City having failed to collect maximum points in one third of their Premier League games this season so far - there is no margin for error.

Of course, Pellegrini will talk of each opponent in turn with the respect they deserve but it would come as quite a shock if the Chilean has not already trained his targets on maximum returns from this festive five.

That target cannot alter with or without Aguero.

Stefan Jovetic has shown a good degree of promise this season, scoring four times in the league despite finding his game time limited. Edin Dzeko is a proven international striker with a Premier League goal ratio of one per 2.3 games - despite many appearances coming from the bench.

There are no heavyweight clashes lurking for City and these two strikers need to answer the call if they see their long-term futures at City.

Another huge plus for Pellegrini is the revival of Yaya Toure. The midfielder has scored three times in four games, hinting he could be about to return to the sort of bludgeoning, dominant figure that steered Man City to glory last season.

If Toure steps up, Dzeko and Jovetic should do likewise.

Despite initial fears, losing Aguero ought not to be as fatal as it first looked. If City can get through Christmas without the Argentine, they will go a long way to setting up a hugely exciting title duel with Chelsea in the coming months.