MANCHESTER, England -- Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne have been ruled out of Manchester City's visit to Chelsea on Saturday.
Aguero has missed City's last two Premier League matches with a muscle injury while De Bruyne has been sidelined for more than a month with a knee issue.
Manager Pep Guardiola will not risk either player at Stamford Bridge.
"Both cannot play tomorrow," he told a news conference. "Soon, both of them will be back."
City have coped without the pair well and are looking for an eighth successive win in the Premier League.
Guardiola has beaten Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri three times in the past 12 months -- twice when the Italian was at Napoli and once against Chelsea in the Community Shield.
Sarri described Premier League leaders City as "the best team in Europe and maybe the world" ahead of the fixture, although Guardiola said he did not agree.
"Thank you, but we are not the best," the City boss said. "To be the best you have to win titles, and we did not win the title to be the best team in Europe.
"The job he [Sarri] has done so far has been excellent. People don't know how difficult it is to create a special way to play, and he needs time. Everybody needs time.
"During preseason we played against them in the Community Shield, they were there, already it was his team. Maybe they are not playing good for 90 minutes but for 50, 60, 70 minutes they are excellent."
Chelsea are the last of the current top-five sides that City face away from home, and avoiding defeat would increase their chances of remaining unbeaten for the season.
But asked about the prospect of an "Invincible" season, Guardiola said: "I don't care about that.
"It's the less important thing -- the most important thing is what we have to think about. The target is to play good in the next game."