Manchester City boss, Pep Guardiola has confirmed that three players will be unavailable to play against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

City’s game against Everton was called off on Monday. The trip to Goodison Park was postponed due to an increase in positive City tests.

  • City's covid situation

On Christmas Day, the club confirmed that defender Kyle Walker and forward Gabriel Jesus had contracted the virus.

Guardiola explained the club’s current situation in his press conference today.

“We had enough players to play against Everton. We wanted to play,” Guardiola said.

“I personally called Carlo Ancelotti to inform him of the club’s situation.

“The Premier League doesn’t allow me to say who is unavailable for Chelsea, but the line-up will reveal who they are. Three important players will not be there.

As the pressure mounts for club’s to share behind the scenes details, Guardiola insisted that he and his colleagues will follow rules set by the Premier League.

“We will follow what the Premier League say,” he said.

“The league are doing an incredible job. We cannot ignore the reality that the virus is here and we have to be careful.

“It would have been a huge risk if we played against Everton. We have extra measures in place and hopefully by the next test, everyone will be negative.

” Every two games we have tests. The most important thing is the welfare of the players.”

Manchester City have two games in hand on Frank Lampard’s Chelsea. Sitting two places behind in the league, but with equal points, Guardiola was confident as he addressed the media ahead of City's trip to the capital.

“We have a good squad to go to Stamford Bridge and to compete against a tough opponent,” he said.

“We will play with enthusiasm and to try and get a result.

We will play every game with the players we have and compete as best as possible.”

City will potentially play 9 times in the space of 28 days this month. With the fixtures piling, Guardiola was keen to crack on with the day job.

"It is what it is,” Guardiola explained.

“When you win a lot of titles - four in one season - you play a lot of games.

“If we play a lot of games it means we are in the competitions.”