MANCHESTER CITY – BRENTFORD | Saturday 1.30pm
Despite a line-up stuffed with second-liners, Manchester City had no trouble getting through the third round of the League Cup. The draw had given them a direct competitor in the form of last year’s finalist Chelsea, but in the Etihad Stadium match last Wednesday everything, or almost everything, went smoothly: first Mahrez and then reserve centre-forward Julian Alvarez put Graham Potter’s Blues 2-0 up, giving Pep Guardiola his fourth consecutive victory in the various competitions in which the Citizens are playing. The English champions at home are a steamroller: the only ones, together with the leading Arsenal, who have won them all at home, but compared to the Gunners they have scored ten more goals. In front of their own public, therefore, they concede very little. It is no coincidence that those sporadic missteps (draws against Aston Villa and Newcastle and defeat at Anfield against Liverpool) were committed away from home.
In the Premier League, the long-distance duel with Mikel Arteta’s men for the first place continues, but the Londoners have two points more and are fighting back blow by blow. Against Brentford, before the break for the World Cup, Guardiola has no alternative to the three points if he wants to try to close in on the top spot, although in the event of a victory it will be necessary to wait for Arsenal’s result in the evening post-match at home to Wolverhampton. The Bees, meanwhile, have been unable to win for five games now and were eliminated from the League Cup this week after losing on penalties to fourth-tier club Gillingham.
David Raya, Brentford goalkeeper
The Prediction
Manchester City are likely to win outright. At home the Citizens are indomitable and Brentford are in a slump. Away, to make matters worse, the Bees have never won and have collected only four of their 16 points. It wouldn’t be surprising if Haaland and his teammates won by more than two goals.
The Manchester City-Brentford line-up probables
- MANCHESTER CITY (4-3-3): Ederson; Stones, Akanji, Aké, Cancelo; De Bruyne, Rodri, Gundogan; Bernardo Silva, Haaland, Foden.
- BRENTFORD (3-5-2): Raya; Jorgensen, Mee, Pinnock; Roerslev, Jensen, Norgaard, Dasilva, Henry; Mbeumo, Toney.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 3-0
