LONDON  Despite all its big spending, Manchester City appears certain to be without four top strikers when it takes on defending Premier League champion Manchester United in a local derby on Sunday. Emmanuel Adebayor will miss the game at Old Trafford because of suspension, Robinho and Roque Santa Cruz are injured and Carlos Tevez is also unlikely to face his former club because of a knee problem he picked up playing for Argentina. Coming off a 4-2 victory over Arsenal and holding a record of four wins in four games, third-place Man City hopes to underline its title claims by beating a team which has won the Premier League three seasons in a row and 11 times in 17 seasons. If City pulls off a victory under these circumstances, then the club that is now powered by the immense finance of an Abu Dhabi business consortium will demonstrate it has the talent on the field to win the league title for the first time since 1968. The absence of the four strikers is expected to leave City with the talented but erratic Craig Bellamy and the unpredictable Benjani Mwaruwari up front. United, however, can call upon a wealth of attacking talent that includes Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen. United is also buoyed by an impressive come-from-behind 3-1 victory at Tottenham last week to rise to second in the standings behind Chelsea. The Red Devils also had a routine 1-0 Champions League win at Turkey's Besiktas on Tuesday. Rooney will be eager to make a mark against City after showing his anger when he was substituted against Besiktas, having a row with the home team's fans and then taking off a boot and slamming it onto the ground. United manager Alex Ferguson put that down to Rooney's winning mentality, saying his only concern for Sunday's game was the fitness of Rio Ferdinand. "We'll have to wait and see," Ferguson said. "He felt his groin in training (after the victory at Tottenham), and we felt it wasn't worth the risk. He couldn't make the bench. We just have to give him every chance for Sunday." City manager Mark Hughes already knew he would be without Robinho and Santa Cruz and doesn't hold out much hope Tevez will recover from his injury. But Adebayor became his latest absentee on Thursday after the Football Association banned the Togo striker for three games after kicking out and catching Arsenal's Robin van Persie on the side of the head. That means Sunday's game is the first he misses with a possible further ban to come next month. After scoring against former club Arsenal on Saturday, Adebayor raced from one end of the field to the other to celebrate in front of the Gunners fans who had been taunting him throughout the game. That resulted in the FA also charging him with improper conduct. He has until Sept. 30 to respond to that and faces the likelihood of another suspension if found guilty. Meanwhile, Chelsea has a three-point lead at the top of the standings and hopes to maintain its perfect start of five wins in a row by beating Tottenham at home on Sunday. The Blues also won in Europe on Tuesday, beating FC Porto 1-0 at home, and manager Carlo Ancelotti has quickly got the players to adapt to his diamond midfield formation. Liverpool also won in the Champions League on Wednesday, edging Hungary's Debrecen 1-0 and hopes to improve its chances of winning the English league title for the first time since 1990 by winning at West Ham on Saturday. After losing two Premier League games in a row, Arsenal came from two goals down to win its Champions League game 3-2 at Standard Liege and lift confidence ahead of a home game against Wigan. Saturday's other games are: Aston Villa vs. Portsmouth; Bolton vs. Stoke; Burnley vs. Sunderland and Hull vs. Birmingham. On Sunday, it's Everton vs. Blackburn and Wolves vs. Fulham. The three clubs relegated from the Premier League last season are leading the race to gain promotion from the League Championship, and two of them face each other on Saturday. West Bromwich Albion holds a one-point lead over Middlesbrough and goes to the Riverside, while third-place Newcastle, also a point behind the Baggies, hosts Plymouth. Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more