Aguero picks up Premier League player of the month award for February

Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero has picked up the Premier League's player of the month award, after a string of standout performances in February.

The Argentine centre-forward managed to score seven goals during a great month for the English champions, which saw them return to the top of the table ahead of Liverpool.

Aguero hit a hat-trick against Arsenal at the start of February before securing another treble during a 6-0 demolition of Chelsea and scoring the winner in a narrow victory against West Ham.

The 30-year-old now has a haul of six player of the month awards to his name, but this latest nod represents his first win of the 2018-19 campaign.

Guardiola's side have finally seized the initiative in this year's title race after chasing Liverpool for much of the season, with nine matches left to play.

Aguero has played a huge part in their recent success and he is now the Premier League's top scorer this term with 18, one ahead of Liverpool's Mohamed Salah.

His superb three-goal display against Chelsea also saw him equal Alan Shearer's top-flight record of 11 hat-tricks and his continued presence in the City starting XI will be vital to their chances of more silverware come May.

The Premier League champions have already won the Carabao Cup and are still in the hunt for FA Cup and Champions League glory, with a huge run of fixtures on the horizon.

Next up is a home clash against Watford in the Premier League on Saturday and Guardiola will be hoping his men can maintain their one-point lead at the summit.

City will then turn their attention to the Champions League three days later as Schalke arrive in Manchester for the second leg of their last-16 tie, with the German side facing a 3-2 first-leg deficit.

Aguero will be expected to start both games as City relentlessly pursue the quadruple, but there is also the possibility Guardiola could rotate his squad to cope with fixture congestion.