Pep Guardiola substitutions show where Kalvin Phillips really stands in Man City plans

This was another game without Rodri - Manchester City's fifth such occasion this season - as the Spaniard served a one-match suspension. Kalvin Phillips started the first of those five games but hasn't started since, with Guardiola playing five others in defensive midfield since from the start. Manu Akanji and Bernardo Silva have also played midfield roles in recent weeks, suggesting Phillips is at least sixth in the midfield hierarchy and potentially as low as eighth. Guardiola named Nathan Ake as another capable of playing in that position on Tuesday, too.

In the second match without Rodri and every other since, Rico Lewis has started in midfield, partnering three players in four games. At Wolves it was Matheus Nunes, at Arsenal and against Young Boys it was Mateo Kovacic, and at Villa it was the returning John Stones. The other games saw Lewis in a double pivot, but Stones was the number six here, with Lewis a little more advanced as a number eight, supported by Bernardo Silva coming inside.

If Phillips is bottom of the midfield hierarchy (emphasised by Kovacic and Nunes coming off the bench), Lewis could be as high as third given his record of playing when Rodri doesn't. Guardiola has a range of defenders who he says can push into midfield, but Lewis is the only one (after Stones) who can play there from the start. It's not unfair to say he may be the third-choice midfielder in Guardiola's plans at the moment, even if this was not his best performance.

ALSO READ: Man City player ratings vs Aston Villa as Josko Gvardiol and Bernardo Silva poor

ALSO READ: Villa chant exposes Man City slump to test Guardiola belief

John Stones was selected as the holding midfielder in Rodri's absence, but from the early stages it