Manchester City will head into their clash against Chelsea in the Premier League two points clear at the top of the table, with the home side looking to bounce back from their recent defeat against Wolves to put an end on the Citizens' unbeaten run.
Pep Guardiola's side have won seven of their last Premier League games in a row, while Chelsea have slipped to fourth place in the league table and currently sit 10 points adrift of the Sky Blues.
A victory for the league leaders will keep them at least two points ahead of Liverpool, should the Reds win their Saturday afternoon game against Bournemouth.
Man City Injuries
Guardiola confirmed that star striker Sergio Aguero has been ruled out of the fixture at Stamford Bridge on Saturday due to an injury, which is a huge blow to City as they seek to extend their gap at the top of the table by an even greater margin.
The Argentina striker picked up an injury in training and also missed out on the 2-1 win at Watford.
Ex-Chelsea midfielder Kevin De Bruyne is also unavailable for the clash with an extended knee injury and will miss out on the opportunity to return to his former home.
Oleksandr Zinchenko and Vincent Kompany are also doubts for the fixture.
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Man City Suspensions
Neither Man City or Chelsea have players suspended for Saturday's game.
Man City Potential Starting Line-Up
Guardiola is expected to rotate his squad heavily ahead of the congested fixture list in December, though is sure to name as close to a first-team as possible as he prepares to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Saturday will likely see Aymeric Laporte and Raheem Sterling return to the starting XI after being named on the bench for the win against Watford, while Guardiola will also face the difficult choice of deciding whether or not to start Leroy Sane and Riyad Mahrez – who both scored on Tuesday.
Gabriel Jesus is expected to lead the line in the absence of Aguero despite his disappointing form, though Guardiola again has an additional forward option in Sane.
Chelsea Team News
Maurizio Sarri doesn't have any major injury doubts to worry about as his side prepare to host the league leaders in West London, despite initial concerns surrounding Marcos Alonso and Mateo Kovacic following the recent victory against Fulham.
Eden Hazard has returned to full fitness after being rested for the Europa League fixture against PAOK.
Opta Match Facts
- Manchester City haven’t won consecutive top-flight visits against Chelsea since January 1955.
- Chelsea have lost two of their last three home Premier League games against Man City (W1), having lost just two of their first 18 against them in the competition (W11 D5 L2).
- Manchester City have never won four consecutive matches against Chelsea in all competitions – this is the 161st meeting between the teams.
- Manchester City are unbeaten in their last 14 away Premier League games (W11 D3) – they’ve never gone 15 without defeat on the road in the top-flight before.
- Man City boss Pep Guardiola failed to win any of his first seven matches against Chelsea in all competitions (D4 L3) but has since won each of his last three against them.
- Man City’s Leroy Sane hasn’t failed to score or assist a goal in any of his eight Premier League starts this season, with the German scoring six and assisting five.
- Only Robin van Persie (6) has scored more away Premier League goals at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea than Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero (5).
TV Coverage and Kick-Off Time
Kick-off is 17:30 GMT (12:30 ET) on Saturday and will be showed live on BT Sport 1 in the United Kingdom. It will be shown on NBCSN in the United States, and on various channels around the world.
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