Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini says attacking midfielder David Silva will not face Chelsea this weekend.
The Spaniard is out with an ankle injury with striker Raheem Sterling and defender Vincent Kompany expected to return for Tuesday's away game at Newcastle United.
"Chelsea is an important game," Pellegrini said.
"We have three Premier League games before the Champions League, it's a very important nine points with qualification to next season's Champions League in mind."
"The target is to try to add as many points as we can from now until the end of season and we'll see where we finish. The first and second position doesn't depend completely on us, though.
"For Chelsea, David Silva [ankle] is out, Raheem Sterling has started working but hopefully he'll be ready Tuesday, and Vincent Kompany should be ready for Tuesday - all the other players are fit.
"I think Silva will manage the situation until end of season, but it's difficult for him to play two games in a row in quick succession, he has pain in his ankle.
"He's [Kevin De Bruyne is] very important for me; if you have all your players 100 per cent fit it's better.
"For different reasons we couldn't have that so when Kevin returned he demonstrated how important he was. Most important is to continue playing as a team."
