Manchester City’s hopes of having Yaya Touré back for Saturday evening’s title showdown with Chelsea could depend on the lottery of a drawing of lots should Ivory Coast finish level on points in their Africa Cup of Nations group on Wednesday.
After four 1-1 draws in Equatorial Guinea, all the teams in Group D stand on two points and have each scored twice and conceded two goals.
Touré’s side face Cameroon in Malabo while Guinea take on Mali in Mongomo, at 7pm local time on Wednesday. If Ivory Coast draw with Cameroon then whatever occurs in the other match, the Elephants and Indomitable Lions will finish with the same points, goals scored and goals conceded, meaning these criteria cannot be used to decide who progresses. According to regulation 74.1.4 of the Confederation of African Football’s tournament rulebook “a drawing of lots conducted by the organising committee” would then be used to separate the nations.
If all four of Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Guinea and Mali end with the same record then the regulations again say a drawing of lots conducted by the organising committee will be deployed.
Since Touré departed for the competition earlier this month City’s form has faltered, Manuel Pellegrini’s side failing to win any of their three subsequent matches and losing 2-0 to Middlesbrough at the Etihad in the FA Cup on Saturday, six days after going down by the same score to Arsenal in the league, also at home.
While City have yet to confirm officially that plans are in place to bring Touré back should Ivory Coast be knocked out, given the team’s poor record without him and the need to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge to reduce the leaders’ five-point advantage to two, it would be a major surprise if they did not.
Touré’s Ivory Coast team-mate Wilfried Bony, signed for £25m in the current window but who has yet to play for City due to playing in Africa, may also join his international captain should he return for the Chelsea game.
