What Man City expect from Kalvin Phillips when he starts against Newcastle in Carabao Cup

Kalvin Phillips will start for Manchester City at Newcastle on Wednesday - but he is not guaranteed to keep his place against Wolves at the weekend.

With Rodri suspended and Mateo Kovacic only likely to feature from the bench as he returns from injury, Phillips will earn just the fifth start of his City career since signing in the summer of 2022. The England international came off the bench after Rodri's red card against Nottingham Forest on Saturday and performed well, with Pep Guardiola challenging him to keep up that level of performance at St. James' Park.

However, with Phillips calling this week the biggest of his City career so far, Guardiola reminded him that his performance at Newcastle in the Carabao Cup will determine whether he keeps his place for the Premier League trip to Wolves on Saturday.

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"He has to be Kalvin Phillips," said Guardiola, explaining what he expects from his midfielder in Rodri's absence.

"Of course being outside, sitting, seeing players in training sessions and what we are looking for in the training sessions and the meetings helps a lot. But every player has his own specifics. We bring Kalvin here for his quality. There are no twins in football, everyone has their own personality.

"Not just this week for many, many times since he arrived, he's been really important. His consistency, he does everything in the game, what happened against Nottingham, it was more defensive, resilient, defend and he helped us breathe. The important is when you act in the smaller spaces we try to help him. The game tomorrow is important and