Man City vs Arsenal: Rodri faces Rice in key midfield battle in EPL title race

An integral position in the Pep Guardiola school of football is the 'lighthouse' role. It belongs to the holding midfielder who sits in the eye of the storm, keeping watch while chaos ensues around them.

"Guardiola tells me to be the coach on the field. He compares my position to that of a lighthouse," said Rodri, explaining the role last season. "'Don't move, let everything revolve around you,' he tells me.

"Sometimes it's lonely." Well, on Sunday, he's in luck - as he won't be the only 'lighthouse' on the pitch.

When Arsenal signed Declan Rice last summer, Mikel Arteta used the exact same term to describe his £105m recruit. "He will light up and improve the others and make the team better," said the Arsenal manager at the time.

Arteta, a direct coaching descendant of Guardiola, recognised the need to have his own Rodri in the No 6 defensive midfield role. Arsenal took on City for the Premier League title last season and won nothing, as Guardiola and Rodri won everything. The Gunners were a 'lighthouse' light, so made Rice priority signing No 1 in the summer.

"Even when he was playing at West Ham, I had that feeling that this guy has got a presence that is unique, he has got something else," Arteta told Sky Sports earlier this season. "I think the team needed something like that."

Even Rice has admitted recently he is modelling his game on City's Rodri this season. "The way the manager wants his No 6 to play, you look at the best No 6s in the world, Man City's Rodri is arguably the best," said Rice while on England duty this week.

And as City and Arsenal meet this Sunday in what is likely to be another title-race defining battle, live on Sky Sports, the two' lighthouses' are in the running for player of the season. And for