Start beckons for Aguero and take odds to score first against West Ham

Two substitute appearances, 46 minutes of football and two goals scored. Sergio Aguero couldn’t have asked for a better return after a month on the sidelines with a knee injury.

And the bad news for West Ham is that the second leg of the Capital One Cup semi final represents the perfect opportunity for Manuel Pellegrini to incorporate the Argentine back into the Manchester City starting line up.

Both Alvaro Negredo and Edin Dzeko have had little in the way of time off since Aguero suffered his setback and with Man City 6-0 up from a dominant first leg at the Etihad, they may as well watch this one from the comforts of their favourite armchairs.

Aguero’s scoring streak dates back long before his injury, as he has five in his last five appearances, eight in his last eight and looking back even further, 17 in his last 15.

Furthermore, he has already scored twice at Upton Park in the Premier League this season and has three in total in his last two meetings with the Hammers.

All of this points to Aguero putting West Ham to the sword again, although 8/11 is not the most enticing price that he nets at any time in the 90 minutes.

No Man City player can better his tally of scoring first on nine occasions this season and so Aguero’s odds of 3/1 to break the deadlock are slightly more valuable, while 5/2 is also worthy of consideration that he helps himself to two or more.

For those interested, it is 10/1 that Aguero scores a first hat-trick of the campaign.

Some may be put off this bet on the basis that Man City are seen to do all of their scoring at the Etihad, but they have scored 21 on the road in the Premier League, which is only one fewer than West Ham’s entire top-flight tally.