Sergio Aguero, David Silva, John Stones Ruled out of Manchester City vs. Palace

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has ruled Sergio Aguero, David Silva and John Stones out of the team's showdown with Crystal Palace on Saturday. 

Guardiola was speaking to the media on Friday and confirmed there will be a number of key players absent. Aguero is one, per the club's official Twitter feed:

Per Simon Stone of BBC Sport, the City boss also revealed Silva, Stones and goalkeeper Claudio Bravo would miss the visit of the Eagles, with the latter set to sit out the remainder of the campaign:

Per Andy Hampson of the Press Association, Guardiola was hopeful that Silva, like Aguero, would be ready for City's upcoming showdown with champions Leicester City on May 13:

The injury problems come at the worst possible time for the manager, as City are stumbling in their quest to sew up a spot in the Premier League's top four to qualify for the Champions League. They trail third-placed Liverpool by three points having played a game less, while their rivals Manchester United are just a point back in fifth.

Despite dominating their last home match—the derby against United—they were only able to take a point. That was followed up by an unconvincing display at Middlesbrough, where City came from behind twice to snatch a 2-2 draw.

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The manager is hoping a return to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday lunchtime will see his side pick up a much-needed win:

He was also keen to emphasise that City remain in control of their own destiny at this point in the season:

If there's been one major positive for Guardiola in those last two matches it's been the return of Gabriel Jesus.

The young Brazilian was a big miss for City during his injury layoff, but he showed his value with a late equaliser at Middlesbrough. With Aguero missing, the 20-year-old looks set to lead the line.

Guardiola admitted he was disappointed he won't be able to play Aguero and Jesus together, although he praised the latter's impact since returning to the team:

The City boss was also full of praise for the visitors. Palace may have suffered defeat at the hands of Burnley last time out, but they've pulled away from the bottom three with some big results against elite teams.

Indeed, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool have all been beaten by Sam Allardyce's side in recent weeks. Guardiola singled out the manager and Eagles forward Christian Benteke for special praise:

Additionally, the coach also revealed that talks have started with director of football Txiki Begiristain about summer targets. "I think every director of football and manager in every team of Europe have already sat down to plan for next season," he said, per Ciaran Kelly and Simon Bajkowski of the Manchester Evening News.

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Of the teams vying for third and fourth position, City arguably have the most favourable run-in. This fixture against a dangerous Palace side is potentially the most difficult they have left.

After all, Allardyce and his players have shown they're a team that relish the big occasion and, with the likes of Benteke, Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend, they have the pace to cause a brittle City defence big problems. If Guardiola's injury-hit XI are not at their best, they may come unstuck here.