Manchester City travel to St James’ Park to face Newcastle United on Sunday afternoon and Kalvin Phillips could return to the matchday squad after recovering from injury. The 26-year-old missed City’s 4-0 win over Bournemouth with a niggle but was pictured in training on Thursday.
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Phillips has made just one appearance in all competitions this season, being an unused substitute in City’s Community Shield defeat to Liverpool (July 30), coming off the bench late in their 2-0 win over West Ham United (August 7) and being left out of the squad entirely against Bournemouth (August 13), so he wouldn’t be starting at St James’
Pep Guardiola has preferred Rodri in the deep-lying midfield role, so Phillips must be patient for opportunities. He won’t be match-fit after very little competitive football in a City shirt too, so it may be a while until he’s in a position to regularly start games.
Nevertheless, it’s great news that Phillips is back as he will be a useful squad player for Guardiola. And eventually he can be utilised to afford Rodri a rest. City are favourites to beat Newcastle on Sunday afternoon regardless of what squad they put out.
In other news, Man City exit has been mixed for Patrick Roberts