Three games after Joao Cancelo left Manchester City because he couldn't displace Nathan Ake at left-back, and Ake has not played at left-back once.
At Arsenal, in City's biggest game of the season, Pep Guardiola repeated his experimental back three, with Bernardo Silva effectively making that a back-four by slotting in on the left out of possession. When Guardiola said earlier this month that he had a midfielder in mind who could fill the void left by Cancelo, we can probably assume that Bernardo was that player.
Bernardo was brilliant against Aston Villa, patrolling the base of midfield with Rodri and working well to cover the fact that City were without a left-back. He was so good that Guardiola kept the same system at Arsenal, but Bukayo Saka may have exposed one of the biggest risks in letting Cancelo leave.
