• Premier League

Aguero back for crunch Liverpool match

Sergio Aguero will return to Manchester City's match-day squad for their crucial title showdown against Liverpool on Sunday.

City's top scorer was forced off at half-time in the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Barcelona with a hamstring injury. He has missed all five games since then.

But manager Manuel Pellegrini, speaking at his pre-match press conference on Friday, said: "All the squad is okay, except Matija Nastasic."

Sergio Aguero has scored 30 times in all competitions for City this season © Getty Images

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On Aguero, Pellegrini added: "He worked the whole week with the squad normally. He doesn't have any problems.

"He is very important. We know Sergio is a top player, he is a player that it is very difficult for the other defences to stop him so he is very important for us.

"You always miss important players like Sergio Aguero but I think we had a lot of other players injured also during the year and the squad had a good answer."

Victory for City at Anfield will put them within a point of league leaders Liverpool with two games in hand.

And defender Pablo Zabaleta believes Aguero could not have timed his return better.

"It is great for any team to have the best players back again," he said. "That is the good news.

"He is an important player, he is going to score goals. He is fast, he is quick. Sometimes we need players like Sergio."

City have scored 13 goals in their last four league games, with Toure and Edin Dzeko joining Aguero and Alvaro Negredo in the four-man group who have struck at least 20 times this season.

But Zabaleta believes City have still missed the Argentina international, adding: "Yes. Always you want the best players in the team and to be fit for any game.

"But we know we also have important players like Dzeko, Yaya is having a great season, [David] Silva, [Samir] Nasri - we have a lot of talent up front. That is why, even without Sergio, we keep scoring goals."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd