David Silva Injury Not Biggest Manchester City Concern Ahead of Derby vs. United

Manchester City face local rivals Manchester United in the derby at the weekend, with the Premier League clash coming at a bad time for City after a run of three winless games.

Their latest defeat, a 2-0 reversal at home to Newcastle United in the League Cup in midweek, also saw key playmaker David Silva forced off with injury, per ESPN, making him a big doubt for the derby match with a knee problem.

While the loss of Silva is an obvious downside, Manchester City don't have to be unduly worried by the Spaniard's possible absence. They have enough in attack to get by without him, and more to the point, have other concerns which are more pressing and which could see them lose further ground on league leaders Chelsea.

Wide Players and Creative Threat

James Milner has returned to both form and favour over the past few weeks, with the dynamic English midfielder excelling on either flank with his direct running, hard work and willingness to break into the penalty area.

Ian Walton/Getty Images

Both defensively and in possession, he has proven a worthwhile inclusion in Manuel Pellegrini's recent lineups—and the return from injury of Samir Nasri provides craft and guile on the opposite flank too, if the manager opts not to go with the direct pace and wide threat of Jesus Navas. Nasri won't be fully fit, of course, but he can replace some of the ingenuity that Silva brings to the team.

Elsewhere, the likes of Stevan Jovetic could be called upon to expose United's porous defence with his terrific movement, ability to drop outside the penalty area and find through-ball opportunities.

All told, City have more than enough to cope without David Silva, especially with Sergio Aguero in such good goalscoring form.

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The last time Manchester City went into a Derby without David Silva, City won 4-1 in September 2013. pic.twitter.com/KlMAts3SkX

— Eye Of The Kippax (@FNN_Official) October 30, 2014"

Pellegrini's Worries

It is further back down the field that Pellegrini will be looking and have greater concerns.

Per his quotes to BBC Sport, the manager says there is a clear problem with the team at present.

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My feeling is that we are not playing well. We are in a difficult moment with a lack of trust. We are conceding too (many) easy goals and we are not scoring the chances we have to score. Of course we must be worried - we didn't win the three games we played this week. We must be worried about that but we must find a solution and we must address it.

We will see with the players which is the way to try and recover that confidence because it's not normal to see this team playing the way we are now.

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The three matches that City played over the past week resulted in a 2-2 draw at CSKA Moscow, after leading 2-0, before a weekend defeat in the league against West Ham, 2-1. Newcastle then won 2-0 at the Etihad on Wednesday. Considering City had the second-best defensive record in the league last season, and spent £30 million improving that on Eliaquim Mangala, such leaky recent records will be a big concern.

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Manuel Pellegrini has signed ten first-team players since joining City. Seven played last night in lame defeat, one (Negredo) has left club.

— Daniel Storey (@danielstorey85) October 30, 2014"

It's not simply a technical or even a tactical issue—City are lining up largely the same way—but a mental one. City aren't the first team to struggle with finding clean sheets difficult to come by once they start getting a few draws or defeats—they only need to look at their weekend opponents to see the truth in that—but it is undoubtedly having a big effect on them not picking up as many points as they should be, in either major competition.

Defence vs. Attack

For the derby itself, it promises to be an exciting clash of "which team can attack the most frequently and in the best manner"—for neither of them can claim to be good enough defensively to warrant sitting back and seeing how the game pans out for too long.

Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

The strength of United, just as with that of City, is very much in being on the front foot and looking to get the final third players involved. Angel Di Maria, Radamel Falcao, Wayne Rooney. Pellegrini will not be looking at that potential trio linking up and believing that, as things stand, Vincent Kompany and co. will be capable of keeping them quiet for an entire 90 minutes.

With or without Silva, Pellegrini will very much be looking to his midfield to win the territorial battle and feed into the attackers, who he will be confident can best a weak-looking opposition defence to get City back on track.

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