Manchester City must consider how they cope without Sergio Aguero... the Argentine has been playing the best football of his career and now the pressure is all on Gabriel Jesus

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The questions ahead of this season centred on whether Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus could play together. Now they are how Manchester City will cope without Aguero.

Performances over these last few weeks have been some of the finest Aguero has produced since arriving here six years ago. Quite the feat given such steep pressure applied by Pep Guardiola.

Seven goals already this season and it is only a matter of time before the Argentine becomes the highest scorer in City's history. But he will have to wait a little longer after sustaining a cracked rib when sat inside a vehicle which ploughed into a pole on Thursday night.

Sergio Aguero's injury in a car crash means Manchester City will be without their star asset

Aguero is set for four weeks out after his trip to watch Colombian singer-songwriter Maluma in Amsterdam, leaving the burden of goalscoring responsibility on the shoulders of Jesus.

Guardiola has found a way of accommodating the South American duo together - City effectively lining up with three central strikers - and that was bearing fruit until the injury.

They are a frightening prospect and it should come as no surprise that two of the world's top marksman have managed to click, although Jesus has struggled in recent games and given a breather against Crystal Palace last weekend.

September has yielded 22 goals - six are Aguero's, four belong to Jesus - and they have been demonstrative going forward, leaving defences dazed and confused, bulldozing them with beauty. That should not change with the Argentine's absence but it comes as a headache nonetheless.

The striker will be out of action after breaking ribs during a taxi incident in Amsterdam

It is only seven months since Aguero's spot in this City was under severe threat but a night in Bournemouth changed all that. Jesus limped off with a broken metatarsal, his elder clambering off the bench and helping them to a 2-0 win.

From there he scored 13 goals in his next 15 and the prospect that City might sell to Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid or anyone became redundant. Guardiola's relationship with Aguero has been complex; there lies mutual respect but difference of opinion on his role in this team.

Guardiola unquestionably demanded more of the striker last year and appeared to feel he had been indulged under Manuel Pellegrini's previous regime. It has garnered a response.

Pressure now rests on the shoulders of Gabriel Jesus to come up with the goods for City

As we all know, the miles covered are up, the sprints are up. He is chasing defenders down in good areas, largely across the width of the penalty area. He's running more but more importantly running smart.

Crucially, the goal tally has remained pretty constant. The reinvention of Aguero has to go down as one of the Catalan's main triumphs so far.

The decision on his future had been left to Aguero towards the back end of last season. It looked as if he could wobble after openly talking about his future. Ultimately, though, he had the stomach for a fight. In any case, Guardiola simply could not allow him to leave the Etihad after such a storming end to the season.

Now they are left counting the cost of a midweek trip to Holland. Aguero fought back last year and he must do this term too. 

Guardiola is likely to orientate his forward line around the Brazilian in the absence of Aguero