After receiving a straight red card in City’s recent win over Nottingham Forest, Rodri will be suspended for the next three domestic matches, which allows Phillips to make a rare run of starts.
In all club competitions since signing from Leeds United in the summer of 2022, Phillips has only played 645 minutes of football, with only four of his 24 appearances coming as a starter.
However, Phillips will start Wednesday’s Carabao Cup third-round match against Newcastle United at the base of City’s midfield since Rodri is expected to miss the following three domestic games.
In the news conference on Tuesday, Guardiola stated, “[Kalvin] will start.”
Not only this week, but many, many times since he arrived, he has been crucial, added Guardiola.
“His consistency, he does everything that happened in the game against Nottingham, it was more defensive, resilient, defend and he helped us breathe.” The crucial factor is how you respond in confined areas because that’s how we try to assist him. Tomorrow’s game is crucial, and I always make decisions based on what’s best for the squad.
Due to his limited position at City, Phillips attracted a lot of transfer interest during the summer transfer window. Liverpool and Bayern Munich were two teams who contacted him to inquire about his availability.
Early in the summer, the midfielder made it plain that he did not want to leave, and after initially being hesitant about his future, City decided to keep the 27-year-old.