Vincent Kompany and Yaya Toure
Vincent Kompany (R) and Yaya Toure have sustained injuries Getty

Manchester City have been dealt a massive blow ahead of their trip to Arsenal next week, with Manuel Pellegrini confirming that Vincent Kompany is likely to miss out on the trip with a calf injury. The Cityzens have performed poorly in defence without their captain and it seems like they will have to make do without the Belgian in a crucial six pointer for the title.

The City of Manchester Stadium outfit managed to dispel memories from a disastrous performance against Stoke City with a consummate win over Swansea City, on 12 December. However, in their previous fixture they were all over the place and were lucky to have lost by a margin of only two goals at the Britannia Stadium. Xherdan Shaqiri and Marko Armautovic tore the City defence apart, with Martin Demichellis and Nicolas Otamendi mere spectators in a porous defensive four.

The Cityzens will receive a massive boost with Sergio Aguero back in reckoning for the next game and his combination with David Silva will be pivotal to them in taking any points from the fixture. The Argentinian has already missed a major part of the campaign due to injury and will be looking to get his side back on course for the title, after a potentially damaging run of results in the league.

When asked about injuries to Aguero and Kompany, Pellegrini said, as quoted by Goal, "We'll see because it's not the same injury, one is a muscle injury the other is just a pain in his heel. It's difficult for a player just to work three days and to be ready to play. It's one thing for a player to be fit after his injury and the other one is to be ready to play. That's a very important difference. I think that we will see during the week but I think that we have just a few days."

City are currently two points ahead of Arsenal and on top of the league owing to goal difference. The Gunners have a chance to leapfrog them for the time being with a win over Aston Villa whom they play at Villa Park on Sunday, 13 December.