Man City defender Akanji tipped for midfield role by Guardiola

Manchester City cente-half Manuel Akanji is good enough to play in midfield.

That is the view of manager Pep Guardiola, who spoke about the absence of defender John Stones.

The latter has been playing a hybrid role for City, coming up into central midfield when they are in possession.

"He can do it. He made a very good performance here against Liverpool once," Guardiola stated after a 1-1 draw with Chelsea of Akanji stepping into such a role in Stones' absence.

"In the first half our dynamic was not proper. We didn't bring the ball in the spaces that we were. It's not necessary to be a manager to realize the change that we needed after Raheem's goal.

"As a manager, I had to be focused on the first half to be better and on Tuesday we have another chance to do it."