This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.
Sergio Aguero will return from a month-long hamstring injury to spearhead Manchester City's attempt to deliver a crucial blow to Liverpool's Premier League title ambitions on Sunday.
With both teams going into the Anfield encounter knowing that a victory will secure a potentially decisive advantage in the title race, City manager Manuel Pellegrini is ready to restore leading scorer Aguero to his forward line.
And City defender Pablo Zabaleta believes Agüero's return to action can trigger the same effect as Carlos Tevez's late contribution to the club's 2011-12 title success.
"Sergio is fit and has been training well with the team for a few days now," Zabaleta said.
"Have we missed him? Yes, of course. You always want the best players in the team."It's a good time for him to come back and I can see why people say it's similar to Tévez returning [in 2012]. Like with Carlos, it's great for any team to have the best players back in the team again - particularly at this part of the season."
He is an important player and he is going to score goals. He is fast, he is quick. Sometimes we need a player like Sergio."
With Liverpool on a nine-game winning streak in the Premier League - a run that has taken them to the top of the table - Zabaleta admits that City face a daunting test against a club desperate to end their 24-year title drought.
"We must think about our next game because we know that it is crucial," Zabaleta said. "We know we must go to Anfield and try to win.
"Every single game from now until the end of the season is going to be a final but we know Liverpool is one of the teams fighting for the title race, so we need to win.
"Liverpool score a lot of goals. We know they have great players in front with Suarez, Sterling, Sturridge. They are in a great, great moment. We know Anfield is always a very tough place to go and get points."
Source: Daily Telegraph
This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.
Tagged: Sergio Aguero , aguero , city , man city , manchester city