Rio Ferdinand has dismissed Man City's lack of a striker as a reason why they can't win the Premier League this season.
City lost their all-time top goalscorer in Sergio Aguero on a free transfer to Barcelona during the summer, and had looked to replace him with Harry Kane from Tottenham.
However the London club refused to do business and Guardiola was then unsuccessful in his attempts to sign Cristiano Ronaldo, who returned to Manchester United instead.
It means that City don't have a natural NO.9 in their squad, with Gabriel Jesus preferring to play out wide and Ferran Torres inexperienced in the position.
Despite that though, Ferdinand believes that Guardiola is "perfectly comfortable" with the state of his squad and thinks the lack of a striker is not a real concern.
Speaking on BT Sport as a pundit before City's clash with Chelsea on Saturday afternoon, the Man United legend said: "That's probably the narrative and backdrop of this game.
"If you're Pep Guardiola, you've won this league without a striker, regular number nine, Sergio Aguero was injured most of last season so he played without a recognised number nine.
"This team have the confidence, the understanding and the know-how to get it done without a number nine so I don't think they're panicking like everyone else is, making it a big thing.
"I believe in Pep, you have to given his track record. I think he's perfectly comfortable in the situation. This team are a hard team to play against with or without a number nine, the way they move the ball, their rotations, as a defender I would probably prefer to play against Chelsea, no disrespect to Chelsea, than City given the way the two teams play and the rotations with City."
City have scored 11 goals in their five Premier League games before Saturday's clash, as well as 12 more in cup competitions.
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