John Dykes:, external With a busy, Agueroless Christmas period looming, tonight is truly the night for Dzeko to shine. We know he can, but will he?

Image source, Other

Tonight, there's also a huge Champions League showdown in Barcelona, where the hosts are in danger of entering next Monday's draw unseeded unless they defeat Paris St-Germain at the Nou Camp. Both teams have qualified from Group F but French champions PSG are in the driving seat, one point clear at the top of the table.

Should Barcelona fail to win then they run the risk of facing Bayern Munich and their old boss Pep Guardiola in the last-16. No wonder Luis Enrique has wheeled out his big guns. Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar all start. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is in PSG's line-up. It's the battle of the big shots.

Follow all the action here with my colleague Neil Johnston.

Daniel Woodley:, external No excuses for Manchester City. The reason they've spent billions of pounds, and have a large squad, is to deal with injuries

Paul Moore:, external City's bench looks pretty good. Better than the starting line up! Lampard and Jovetic should be playing.

Mark Clarke:, external No Aguero, No Toure, No Kompany and lacking in British Bulldogs to pull them through. Roma to win by 2 or 3

Michael Moore:, external Forget Champions League it's Bristol City v Coventry City tonight in jpt.

Image source, Getty Images

Of course, it was the evergreen Francesco Totti who damaged City's hopes of reaching the last 16 - for only the second time in four years remember - with the winner in the reverse fixture at the Etihad.

Most 38-year-old blokes think their physical peak is behind them. This guy is still tearing up defences.

Manchester City centre-back pair Martin Demichelis and Eliaquim Mangala are deep in conversation as the away players go through their paces on the Olympic Stadium.

I'd imagine the name Francesco Totti has been mentioned quite a few times...

Mark in Lancashire: Dzeko is a liability but Milner, Fernandinho and Nasri will make the difference tonight! C'mon City!

Image source, Getty Images

Roma coach Rudi Garcia admits City pose a difficult threat to his team, but the Frenchman is "quietly confident" that they will reach the last 16.

"In normal circumstances, we would be out with five points from five games. But we are here to get a historic result," he says.

"When the draw put us in the most difficult group, few people would have imagined we would be here with something to play for.

"We have to use our heads, not just our hearts. I think it will be a tactical game."

Kevin Kilbane
BBC Radio 5 live

"Italian football has been lacking seriously. It has struggled in the big competitions. We were used to the likes of AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus dominating European football and we are looking for a reincarnation."

Manchester City know they have a tough task in the Italian capital this evening. That's because Roma are unbeaten at home in Serie A this season.

The Giallorossi are second in the Italian top flight, just three points behind reigning champions Juventus and six points ahead of third-placed Genoa.

Roma won their first five league matches this campaign and have only lost four times in all competitions.

Image source, Roma

The atmosphere is bubbling up nicely outside the Olympic Stadium in Rome. Woolly hats and scarves are out in force as these young Roma fans illustrate. But at least they don't have the dreaded 'weather bomb' to worry about....

Opposition fans - are you, like Steve who has texted in below, backing City tonight? If not, then you should be - that's the view of The Daily Telegraph's Mark Ogden.

"For one night only, City should be the country's team because losing two Premier League clubs from the Champions League in the space of 24 hours would suit nobody connected to English football," he writes., external

Do you agree with Mark? Let us know in the usual ways - tweet #bbcfootball, text 81111 or post on our Facebook page.

Joel in Skipton: Tonight presents a huge opportunity for Man City's squad to prove their strength, depth and price tag!

Steve Huish in Surbiton: City will show true grit tonight and win 1-0. Emlyn Hughes style. Come on City the nation salutes you.

Kevin Kilbane
BBC Radio 5 live

"Edin Dzeko is a very clever footballer. When I have seen Roma's Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa play for Newcastle, he was susceptible to balls played over his shoulder. If they can hit Dzeko with diagonal balls I think City will get a lot of joy."

You can listen to the build-up followed by live commentary of Manchester City's match at Roma on BBC Radio 5 live here or by clicking on the Live Coverage tab at the top of this page.

Manuel Pellegrini, in typically stoic fashion, followed up the Sergio Aguero bombshell with a positive. "Our team doesn't depend on one player," said the City boss.

I'm sure he believes it. But most onlookers would not agree.

At times, Aguero has produced better one-man shows than Michael McIntyre. But City fans aren't laughing. The Argentina forward has scored 19 goals in 21 games for City this season, including almost half of their 32 Premier League strikes.

Time for Edin Dzeko, Stevan Jovetic and Spanish teenager Jose Angel Pozo - who was not even born when mop-topped City fans Oasis released 'Morning Glory' - to roll with it.

Mike MacKenzie:, external No chance for Man City without Aguero & Toure ... unless De Sanctis plays like he did against Sassoulo and a couple other games!

Roma keeper De Sanctis had a bit of 'mare by all accounts...

Manchester City are leaning on Bayern Munich for a favour tonight - but the German champions are looking after themselves.

Bad news for City as Bayern boss Pep Guardiola makes five changes for their home match against CSKA Moscow.

Robert Lewandowski, Xabi Alonso and Arjen Robben are all left on the substitutes' bench for Munich, who are already through as group winners.

Remember City need to better CSKA's result tonight to progress...

Sam in Manchester: City clearly have to do it the hard way today! No Yaya, no Aguero, no Kompany and Silva only fit enough to be on the bench.