Manchester City vs. Roma: Injury Situation to Shape Manuel Pellegrini's Plans

Manchester City's Champions League campaign continues on Tuesday with a home clash against Italian giants Roma. With City currently three points behind their opponents, this match will go a long way in deciding who will likely accompany Bayern Munich out of the group stage.

This is almost a must-win for Manuel Pellegrini's men, and the manager will have some big decisions to make ahead of this huge encounter.

The biggest issue for the squad recently has been the injury list, one that has changed over the last week. Stevan Jovetic is now off the list, as Pellegrini confirmed to the club's website, while Samir Nasri is now out after groin surgery.

The midfielder shared an update on his progress with the world via his Twitter account:

"

Thanks for the support! Surgery went well! Now time for recovery! pic.twitter.com/PjoIPxj73d

— Samir Nasri Official (@SamNasri19) September 28, 2014"

Midfield destroyer Fernando, meanwhile, has been out since leaving the loss to Stoke early and will miss out on the action once again.

Jovetic's return certainly comes at a great time for City. With only Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko available as striking options, the duo have featured continually for Pellegrini, to great effect. Having the Montenegrin ready to go provides the squad with a different option to attack Roma.

The 24-year-old's stellar preseason form carried over into the regular season as he netted a brace in the 3-1 win over Liverpool. Unfortunately, the injury picked up on international duty in September stalled any momentum he could have kept.

With him back in tow, expect him to start this one, with his fresh legs providing relief for Aguero and Dzeko while not losing too much in attack power.

Michael Steele/Getty Images

Nasri's absence might leave City bereft of a bit of creativity, but it leaves room for the likes of Jesus Navas and James Milner to be included in the squad. Milner in particular has been in fantastic form of late, with his showing against Chelsea proving how valuable he is to the side when he features.

His hustle-and-bustle mentality and versatility allow Pellegrini to plug him in anywhere to great success, be it on the wings or in central midfield. Navas' pure pace down the right would be a solid complement to this, with Milner deployed on the left and Silva the maestro in the middle. 

With Ashley Cole likely to be deployed on the left side of Roma's back line, whoever takes up that flank for City will be facing a familiar foe. They ought to know how to beat him by now, with Frank Lampard also available to give pointers about his former Chelsea team-mate.

Fernando's absence is a tough one in a match where his defensive bite will be missed against dynamic attackers like Miralem Pjanic, Mattia Destro and Alessandro Florenzi, as well as midfield counterpart Radja Nainggolan.

With Yaya Toure and Fernandinho continually deployed, including the 7-0 Capital One Cup thrashing of Sheffield Wednesday, perhaps a rest would be in order for one or both. Having Fernando available would've allowed that to happen, but as of this moment, only Lampard and Milner are available as alternative central midfield options.

Lampard has been in quite spectacular form, bagging four goals over the last three games across all competitions. Goals in substitute spells against Chelsea and Hull sandwiched a brace against Wednesday, a match in which he played the full 90 minutes.

These are the kinds of fixtures Lampard was brought in to play in. With rotation needed in the midfield, it would behoove Pellegrini to insert the Englishman into his starting XI.

Luckily for the Chilean, he only has to deal with those two injury absences. Of course, he will still need to take into consideration the possible fatigue of the squad, having played three matches over an eight-day span heading into this crucial clash.

Will The Engineer be able to put together the right lineup to conquer Roma?

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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