Manchester City will again be without Sergio Aguero when they visit Stamford Bridge on Saturday. The league leaders are unbeaten so far this season and Chelsea away is one of the most demanding fixtures that remain – City have already travelled to Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham – but the muscle strain that has seen Aguero miss the last two games is not yet fully mended.

“Sergio will be back soon but he cannot play against Chelsea,” Pep Guardiola said. “Kevin de Bruyne will also be back soon, but not this week.”

Guardiola once again batted away suggestions that his team might go through the season unbeaten, even though City have not lost in 16 matches and Chelsea would appear, on paper at least, to be one of the few teams capable of standing in their way. “I don’t care about that,” the City manager said. “The most important thing to think about is always the next game, and Chelsea are an excellent team. I admire what Maurizio Sarri has done in a short time, even when we played them in the Community Shield at the start of the season you could see it was his team, playing the way he wanted to play.

“There is bound to be a reaction after their defeat by Wolves, they won’t accept two defeats in a row. Stamford Bridge is always a difficult place to go and get a result, I have been there several times and lost, but what makes me most proud is the consistency we have shown over the last 15 or 16 months. I am pleased with the way we have been playing but it would be a dangerous mistake to imagine we could not improve. We can, there are still many things we can do better.”