Man City vs Chelsea team news and predicted line-ups: Guardiola set to miss key trio due to injury as Palmer given new role
Manchester City and Chelsea are both dealing with a flurry of injury concerns ahead of Saturday's blockbuster showdown.
The Citizens and Blues are at opposite ends of the Premier League's top ten but played out a thrilling 4-4 draw in November.
Pep Guardiola has recently had a clean bill of health to contend with after welcoming back star duo Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne.
That has coincided with a run of 11 consecutive wins across all competitions that has left City just two points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool with a game in hand.
However, City were left to rue the cost of an otherwise routine 3-1 Champions League away win over Copenhagen that saw several key players forced off with injuries.
The news will come as a welcome boost to Chelsea, who scraped back into tenth following a dramatic late 3-1 comeback win over Crystal Palace on Monday.
Mauricio Pochettino has already been juggling an extensive injury crisis at Stamford Bridge ahead of next weekend's Carabao Cup final.
Guardiola was already without trio Josko Gvardiol, Mateo Kovacic and Sergio Gomez for the midweek trip to Denmark.
Gvardiol has since been ruled out for a few weeks with an ankle issue, while Gomez was unlikely to play a part against Chelsea anyway.
Former Blues midfielder Kovacic is expected to be back in training this week but the game may come too close for him to start.
Following John Stones' return, Guardiola has a fairly settled backline with the England defender partnering Ruben Dias alongside Three Lions teammate Kyle Walker in front of Ederson.
In Gvardiol's absence, either Manuel Akanji or another ex-Chelsea man Nathan Ake will play at left-back but it was the former who was rested in midweek.
Julian Alvarez was another unused
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