Man City trail United by seven points... and will be three players light due to Africa Cup of Nations

By Laurie Whitwell for the Daily Mail and Laura Williamson for MailOnline

Published: 10:49 EST, 3 January 2013 | Updated: 11:37 EST, 3 January 2013

Champions Manchester City trail neighbours United by seven points, a goal difference of four and, soon, will have three fewer players to pick from.

The Africa Cup of Nations does not affect Sir Alex Ferguson’s squad but Roberto Mancini will be without influential Yaya Toure as well as his brother Kolo, who are both playing for the Ivory Coast. Compatriot Abdul Razak is also swapping Manchester for South Africa.

With the gap already sizeable and United showing the form of champions, the tournament, which starts on January 19, gives City a headache they could well do without.

Manchester City's Yaya Toure
Kolo Toure of Manchester City in action

Gone: Manchester City will be without the Toure brothers Yaya (left) and Kolo

Who's off to Africa?

ARSENAL: Gervinho (Ivory Coast), Emmanuel Frimpong (Ghana)

ASTON VILLA: Karim El Ahmadi (Morocco)

CHELSEA: John Mikel Obi, Victor Moses (Nigeria) 

FULHAM: Mahamadou Diarra (Mali)

LIVERPOOL: Oussama Assaidi (Morocco)

MANCHESTER CITY: Yaya Toure, Kolo Toure, Abdul Razak (Ivory Coast)

MANCHESTER UNITED: None. 

NEWCASTLE UNITED: Chieck Tiote (Ivory Coast)

NORWICH CITY: None. 

QPR: Samba Diakite (Mali)

READING: None. 

SOUTHAMPTON: Emmanuel Mayuka (Zambia)

STOKE: Salif Diao (Senegal)

SUNDERLAND: None. 

SWANSEA: None.

TOTTENHAM: Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo) tbc

WEST BROMWICH: Youssouf Mulumbu (Congo)

WEST HAM: Modibo Maiga (Mali) 

WIGAN: Aruona Kone (Ivory Coast)

Toure, City’s driving force, might not be seen again in a sky blue shirt for seven weeks. The 29-year-old missed eight games during last year’s tournament, a period which saw City knocked out of both domestic cup competitions and lose an important Barclays Premier League game at Everton.

City recovered to win the title but team-mate Pablo Zabaleta knows they can little afford a repeat this year.

The Argentina international said: ‘It’s going to be a very tough time for us because we’re going to lose Kolo, Yaya and Abdul, three important players.

‘We know how important Yaya is to the team but there are other players who can do the same job.

‘Last season, January and February was when we dropped points and we need to try to make sure that doesn’t happen again.’

The trio are scheduled to meet and travel on Saturday so, unless plans change, they will not be available to play in the FA Cup against Watford.

Meanwhile, Spurs are sweating on Emmanuel Adebayor, who has still not decided whether he will represent Togo at the Africa Cup of Nations.

But Tottenham’s assistant coach Steffen Freund believes Spurs can be successful with or without him.

Unsure: Adebayor hasn't yet made his mind up whether he's staying with Tottenham or going to play for Togo

Unsure: Adebayor hasn't yet made his mind up whether he's staying with Tottenham or going to play for Togo

The striker has not yet made up his mind whether to join his national team for the tournament amid lingering doubts over security.

Freund said the club would respect Adebayor’s decision either way, but insisted they can cope without him.

The German said: ‘We will be successful with or without Emmanuel in the team. He was injured (and suspended) and we had a really strong run without him.

‘He scored in the last game (the 3-1 win against Reading on New Year’s Day), but Jermain Defoe, Clint Dempsey and Gylfi Sigurdsson can also play up front.

‘We have to wait and see what he decides. I would love to have him in the squad and he would not go to the African Cup of Nations but it’s a massive tournament and we have to respect his decision.’