Former Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp believes Manchester City will seek to buy a striker in January.
Although City remain in touch with the chasing pack, they have not scored as many goals or picked up as many points compared to the same stage in recent years.
Redknapp believes Pep Guardiola is having to rebuild following the departures of talismen Vincent Kompany and David Silva, while Sergio Aguero's recent injury record is proving a problem.
"Obviously in the last couple of years, they've lost players - people like Kompany and David Silva, who are special players, and Aguero is injured an awful lot at the moment, they've missed him as well - and they've not been able to replace them," Redknapp said.
"They really are struggling at the moment to find that great form that they've shown in recent years."
Redknapp added: "It's a big challenge - but they are short of a centre forward. I think that's the big problem for him.
"If Aguero's not fit, they're just going to have to get loads of movement from players, and there's no out-and-out goalscorer there - somebody that is going to go and get you 20, 25 goals a year.
"I would think that's where they'll go into the market in January."
