Manchester City travel to Chelsea not yet ready to risk Sergio Agüero as he recovers from an abductor muscle strain and with Pep Guardiola weighing up the pros and cons of using Raheem Sterling in a more central role.

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The City manager would not reveal his intended lineup but has three in-form wingers in Sterling, Riyad Mahrez and Leroy Sané, while Gabriel Jesus has so far failed to make the most of Agüero’s absence. “Raheem can play in many positions,” Guardiola said. “I prefer him on the wing but he did not always play there for Liverpool.”

Guardiola also poured cold water on suggestions that his club could face a Champions League ban in the wake of Financial Fair Play allegations. “We will not be banned. That’s what I think,” he said.

“I trust what my chairman and CEO have explained to me. If it does happen, we will accept it and move forward.” More pressing for the manager is the significance of his side’s visit to Chelsea.

They are the last top-five team City have to visit and they have already recorded wins at Arsenal and Tottenham and secured a draw at Anfield. In terms of the recent past Guardiola said the 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge in September last season was “an important step”.

City had been beaten by Antonio Conte’s Chelsea at the Etihad the season before, a result that saw Guardiola’s first campaign in England begin to unravel, and knew they needed to make a statement against the defending champions.

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“Winning there last season felt like more than three points,” Guardiola said. “It showed we could do it, the first important game away against the last champions. We could say after that we could go anywhere and deliver a good performance.

“Since then we have continued in that vein and that is what makes me most proud, the consistency we have shown in the last 15 or 16 months. Stamford Bridge is never an easy place to go and get a result, I have been there a few times and lost, and this game is our last one away from home against one of the five hypothetical strong teams in the league.

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“After that we will have played them all, apart from Manchester United. We have not been quite as solid away from home as we have on our own ground, but we have competed like a team and that is a good thing.”

Saturday’s 5.30pm kick-off brings together City’s Fernandinho and Jorginho of Chelsea, the latter Brazilian the one Guardiola tried to buy in the summer as an eventual replacement for the former. “He is a Chelsea player now so I cannot speak too much about him, but I respect his decision and wish him all the best,” Guardiola said. “He had a choice to make but he knew Maurizio Sarri very well and Chelsea are an exceptional club. I’m not going to say it is a bad decision.”

Jorginho might have had to bide his time a little in Manchester. Fernandinho is not quite ready to be replaced yet, though he is 33 and City remain vulnerable should injury deprive them of one of their most influential players.

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“What Fernandinho has done for this club is incredible, not just this season but all the years we have been together,” Guardiola said. “We have that guy to thank for most of the good things we have in this moment. Very few players can do what he does, he can do virtually everything on the pitch.”