Manchester City have already lost three league games this season. Why? Well, Rodri was missing through suspension in all three defeats.
City started the season in perfect form with six successive league wins but the first major wobble came after Rodri received a red card during the 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest in September - losing 2-1 to Wolves and 1-0 to Arsenal in the following games during his suspension.
Rodri returned and so did another win streak - three in a row - before a run of three draws against 'Big-Six' opponents Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham, with Rodri picking up a one-match ban for receiving his fifth yellow card against Spurs.
Three days later and, without the suspended Rodri, City were uncharacteristically outplayed at Aston Villa and lost 1-0 - now sitting six points adrift of the Gunners. No Rodri, no points.
Pep Guardiola welcomes his midfield maestro back to the fold for the trip to Luton on Sunday under the Sky cameras, with Rob Edwards' side arguably ramping up the pressure on the champions after their 4-3 slugfest defeat against Arsenal in midweek.
The midfielder's influence extends beyond this campaign to his arrival at the Etihad in 2019, with City recording a lower win rate, points per game rate, scoring fewer goals and conceding more per game when Rodri is missing from the side.
Speaking after the defeat to Villa, Guardiola said: "Of course, Rodri is so important - but it's my job to find a way to win when Rodri is not there."
To compound the problem, the City boss does not appear to have a replacement for Rodri. Against Villa, Guardiola snubbed natural defensive midfielders Kalvin Phillips and Matheus Nunes in favour of natural centre-backs John Stones and Manuel Akanji as the pair in a 3-2-4-1 system.
What do the stats say?
So why does the 27-year-old wield so much influence?
Firstly, Rodri is City's distribution hub with a team-topping 1,104 successful passes to date. Drilling down deeper, he's also completed more passes in the final third than any other player in the Premier League this term.
More evidence? Well, 53 of his successful passes broke opposition defensive lines - another league-topping number. Additionally, his distribution has bypassed 1,526 opponents - only Kieran Trippier and Lewis Dunk have beaten more.
And then there's the defensive work, ranking fourth in the league for regaining possession in the middle third - behind only Christian Norgaard, Dominik Szoboszlai and Idrissa Gueye. Fourth isn't the best, though? Well, Rodri and Szoboszlai really shine when you consider they typically have the ball far more often than not with their respective sides.
The graphic below reveals how Rodri dominates City's spine, while his passing accuracy of 94 per cent is higher than any other midfielder in the Premier League this season to have played 270 minutes or more.
In terms of his passing targets, the table below emphasises how Rodri provides the crucial link between midfield and attack, with his main passing partners including defenders such as typical centre-backs Akanji and Ruben Dias, followed by full-backs such as Kyle Walker and then Bernardo Silva in midfield.
Indeed, he passes to Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez only half as often as his centre-backs, on average.
But it's not just his league-topping defensive work and passing, Rodri's seventh for xG sequence involvement. The Spaniard has contributed to 10.8 goals, according to xG sequence data - higher than any other midfielder in the league.
And, of course, Rodri can also deliver goals in the big moments when Guardiola needs them most. Few would top his winner against Inter in the Champions League final, but most are guaranteed screamers.
Indeed, only six players have scored more goals from outside the box since his debut and they're almost exclusively attacking players: Kevin De Bruyne, James Maddison, James Ward-Prowse, Harry Kane, Heung-Min Son and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
From front to back, Rodri is key to City's hopes of claiming an unprecedented fourth successive Premier League crown and Guardiola's search for a reliable deputy appears to be ongoing.
Right now, the City boss needs his kingpin to restore order: if City fail to beat Luton, it would be the first time the club failed to win in five successive Premier League games since 2009 under Mark Hughes.
Even more striking: it would be the first time Guardiola went five games without a win in his entire managerial career... all 535 games.
Man City's next six fixtures
December 10: Luton Town (A) - Premier League, live on Sky Sports, kick-off 2pm
December 13: Crvena Zvezda (A) - Champions League, kick-off 5.45pm
December 16: Crystal Palace (H) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
December 19: TBC (N) - Club World Cup, kick-off 6pm
December 27: Everton (A) - Premier League, kick-off 8.15pm
December 30: Sheffield United (H) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
Whumd
413
Rodri has been an engine even in absence of gear box debruine💥 city is city we will fight to last drop to obtain the trophies 🏆 again💯
yondlostz
358
rodri is more of an attacking DMF..and the reason why city is badly in form now is not bcoz of rodri,go and check our record every December it is always shitty..every season mancity was com as under dogs even with our rodri,debryne,gundogan,all of dem.we still always com back as under dog,same tin happened last year December with our rodri we still collect for Christmas..so pls stop all this rodri this Rodri that,to me the rodri is not even good at defending,his only ability is to pass the ball accurately and wen pressure is to much on him he jst give d ball away..he is more comfortable playing wen anoda player is dere to support him like Johnstones..so all this praises on Rodri is jst boring..am a city fan,and i kw our main problem now is we playing alvarez as a number 10..dea is no creativity in the middle,but it still doesn't mean say we no go collect for December..Rodri or no Rodri our December form is always bad..if i av a very good attacking midfielder i pick Rice 1000 times to rodri..like i said rodri prefer to attack u dan to defend against u,which Rice is 10000 times beta,rice covers his position well,rodri covers too but he is easily beaten and and is recovery is shit..so in terms on recovery, tackles, positioning i choose Rice any day any time...but in terms of attacking,short pass,shot,long pass i pick Rodri,those are is best qualities..but as a DMF u can't tackle,u can't defend,it's really annoys me wen i see Rodri gets beaten easily in d middle and fails to recover..and most times wen we attacking he jst forget to position well..my God Rodri is terrible wen it comes to those attributes
_Declan40Rice_
344
U can say wat, that, this😤Rodrigo is a True Dm... No one comes close to him, right now in the world 💪🏌️