Chelsea team news: No Kante for Blues while Sterling misses out for Man City

Chelsea will be without N’Golo Kante against Manchester City, while the Premier League leaders are unable to call upon Raheem Sterling.

A crunch clash at the Etihad Stadium will see two of the English top-flights most colourful managers go head-to-head.

There promises to be as much action on the touchline as there is on the field with Antonio Conte and Pep Guardiola on show, with both desperate to get their hands on all three points.

City are continuing to sweep their way towards title glory, and can edge a step closer to the crown with victory on home soil.

Chelsea, meanwhile, need to offer a positive response to last weekend’s reversal against Manchester United if they are to close back in on the top four.

Their cause has not been aided by an untimely virus picked up by France international Kante, with the midfield enforcer too ill to take his place in the matchday squad.

City, though, have absentees of their own, with in-form winger Sterling still nursing the hamstring problem which kept him out of Carabao Cup final and Premier League clashes with Arsenal.

Man City team: Ederson, Walker, Laporte, Otamendi, Zinchenko, Gundogan, De Bruyne, B. Silva, D. Silva, Sane, Aguero. Subs: Bravo, Stones, Kompany, Danilo, Jesus, Yaya Toure, Foden.

Chelsea team: Courtois; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger; Moses, Fabregas, Drinkwater, Alonso; Willian, Hazard, Pedro. Subs: Caballero, Cahill, Zappacosta, Emerson, Chalobah, Giroud, Morata.

Conte has once again opted to do without a central striker, with Eden Hazard deployed as a ‘false nine’ as Alvaro Morata and OIivier Giroud fill spots on the bench.

Aymeric Laporte comes back in for City alongside Alexander Zinchenko in a watertight back four.

City edged the reverse fixture between the two sides back in September, with Kevin De Bruyne netting the only goal of the game against his former club.