Manchester City welcome Brighton and Hove Albion to the Etihad on Saturday afternoon and Pep Guardiola will be relieved to have Rodri back available.
The Blues have lost their last two league matches against Wolves and Arsenal, following elimination from the Carabao Cup after defeat at Newcastle United.
Rodri was absent for all three, having been sent off for grabbing Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White by the throat. But after featuring for Spain during the international break, he is available and Guardiola will waste no time in getting his anchor back in the starting line-up.
In the 27-year-old's absence, City have tried several options in the deep midfield role but failed to match the quality both in and out of possession. ALSO READ: Guardiola has Alvarez puzzle to solve for City ALSO READ: Guardiola opens up on Haaland vs Messi battle for Ballon d'Or Rodri will almost certainly return as the deepest midfielder, allowing Mateo Kovacic to take up preferred role a little further forward.