Why Sergio Aguero Will Be Manchester City's Key Player Against Manchester United

Sergio Aguero will be Manchester City's key player in this weekend's derby with Manchester United because Aguero is the only City player, save for Yaya Toure, who can create a goal from nothing.

With Toure creating far more nothing than goals, Aguero will have to conjure some special magic to carry City's offense against the Red Devils. Especially since City boss Manuel Pellegrini set fire to his own lifeboat with the City ship already listing in recent days.

If Aguero has been City's No. 1 player of the 2014/15 season, midfield wizard David Silva has to be No. 1A.

No reasonable City supporter expected Silva to play 50 matches this season. The Spaniard's history is littered with the odd muscle pull or strain, and City usually struggle to score goals in his absence. It is therefore of paramount importance to keep Silva healthy and to get him proper rest whenever possible.

That's why Pellegrini committed the managerial equivalent of criminal recklessness by starting Silva in City's recent Capital One Cup catastrophe against Newcastle United.

Had Pellegrini ever watched Newcastle play? Wasn't he on the sideline when Samir Nasri was viciously hacked down at St. James' Park last season? Every match with Newcastle resembles a street fight between uniformed opposition. Risking Silva's health against the Magpies was just absurd.

So it is not too surprising that it took all of six minutes for Newcastle's Ryan Taylor to dangerously and maliciously pull Silva back from behind. Silva left the match and is now definitely out for the derby and potentially gone for quite a bit longer, per David Anderson in the Mirror:

"

Silva has had a scan on his knee, which has revealed the Manchester City playmaker has suffered ligament damage that will force him to miss the Etihad clash with neighbours United. Silva, who was injured when he was fouled by Newcastle's Ryan Taylor, is also set to miss City's must-win Champions League clash at home to CSKA Moscow on Wednesday.

"

That Silva was sacrificed in a Capital One Cup match is inexplicable. That trophy doesn't even count, according to the club.

Michael Regan/Getty Images

Maybe Aguero has been better than Silva this season, just. But City are far more able to replace Aguero in the XI than they can Silva. Edin Dzeko and Stevan Jovetic have not done much lately, but they are both still elite strikers with goals in them.

No one else on City's roster can do what Silva does with the ball at his feet. Not Nasri (himself only recently healed from injury), not Jesus Navas and not even Toure. Silva may not be out of City's lineup for long, but this is still a devastating blow to a side that are already riding a three-match winless skid.

Pellegrini knows how much trouble City are in following three poor results in a week. “We didn’t win the three games we played this week," he said. "We are conceding too easy goals and we are not scoring the chances we have,” per The Guardian's John Ashdown.

For City, then, the best solution really is the simplest one, although it surely is not the fairest on Aguero.

The Argentine striker has scored 11 times in all competitions since the beginning of the season. The next most prolific goal total for City this season? Two, by four different Sky Blues.

Pellegrini's daft decision, which led to Silva's needless injury now puts even more onus on Aguero. It is an unreasonable burden, especially since Aguero for the time being will not benefit from any of Silva's scoring chance creation or the room that Silva creates for teammates by drawing defenders to him.

But there is no point in pretending that someone like goalkeeper Joe Hart or defender Vincent Kompany will be the most important Sky Blue on Sunday. City have kept a clean sheet in just two of their nine Premier League matches this season, and United are better offensively than most of those nine opponents.

So City are not able to defend their way to a win over United. If City are to win this match, they will need to keep up with and ultimately surpass United's probable significant goal production at the Etihad.

And fair or not, reasonable or not, it will have to be Aguero who does most of that heavy work.

Aguero has amazed City supporters before. He will need to do it again on Sunday.