The Frenchman was a doubt for the game after it was announced that he had missed Friday's training session with an unspecified muscle strain, but there remained confidence that the midfielder would shake off the problem in time to feature.
However, that did not turn out to be the case the the powerful playmaker was deemed unfit even for a place on the bench.
His absence means that manager Jose Mourinho opted to go with a midfield of Nemanja Matic, Ander Herrera and Belgian Marouane Fellaini.
Meanwhile, Romelu Lukaku returned to the squad after missing the last two games with a hamstring problem, but he was made to do with a place on the bench as Marcus Rashford led the line.
November 11, 2018
City, meanwhile, made just the one change from their crushing win over Southampton last weekend, with Riyad Mahrez replacing Leroy Sane in attack.
November 11, 2018