MANCHESTER: Aleksandar Kolarov believes that Manchester City’s strike-force of Carlos Tevez and Edin Dzeko could prove to be the most potent in the Premier League.
City host Leicester in the FA Cup third round replay today, fresh from a second spell at the top of the Premier League this season after a 4-3 victory over Wolves.
That was the first time Tevez and Bosnian forward Dzeko, a £27mil signing from German club Wolfsburg, have partnered each other in attack.
Tevez scored twice and Dzeko also played a key role in the victory over their struggling opponents.
Manager Roberto Mancini has allowed Roque Santa Cruz to join Blackburn on loan for the rest of the season and doubts remain about Emmanuel Adebayor’s future at Eastlands.
But with Mario Balotelli set to return from a knee problem in three weeks, Serbian defender Kolarov, who arrived from Lazio in the summer, thinks that City’s attack has to be feared.
“Edin is a great player and he was very good in his first game,” he said.
“It’s a shame that he didn’t score against Wolves, but he made one for Yaya (Toure) and he is very happy about that. We scored four goals as a team, and Edin and Carlos already look good together in attack – they may be the best in the Premier League. But we have all to keep on working hard and building on what we do in training.”
City have suffered just one defeat in their last 16 matches in all competitions as they prepare for their replay against former manager Sven-Goran Eriksson’s Leicester.
But after keeping three consecutive clean sheets, they conceded two poor goals in the 2-2 draw at Leicester, before letting in three against lowly Wolves.
Kolarov admits Mancini’s side cannot afford to be so slack if they are to end their trophy drought this season.
He added: “It’s never, never over in the Premier League until the 90 minutes has gone and you have to stay focused. We made a couple of mistakes against Wolves, and you just can’t do that at this level. We can’t be making mistakes like that.”
Judging by his selection from the first game at the Walkers Stadium, Mancini is likely to pick a strong side against the Second Division team for the replay.
David Silva made a brief substitute appearance against Wolves and may be given a start against Leicester and Mancini may also take the chance to give Dzeko another taste of English football. Micah Richards is unlikely to be risked after a back injury, while Balotelli is still on the sidelines.
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