Manchester City vs Brentford

Etihad Stadium sets the stage for Manchester City’s must-win Premier League clash against bottom-half underachievers Brentford.

Manchester City’s pursuit of an unprecedented fourth consecutive Premier League title took a tumble at the weekend as they shared the spoils with Chelsea in a 1-1 home draw, relinquishing an impressive 11-game winning streak in all competitions. Now left four points adrift of pacesetters Liverpool, Pep Guardiola’s side must make the most out of this game in hand to get their title hopes back on track. But despite the odds, victory is not a foregone conclusion, considering Man City had lost back-to-back top-flight H2Hs against Brenford before a come-from-behind 3-1 win in the reverse fixture earlier this month. Etihad Stadium should form the perfect backdrop for City’s first league double over the ‘Bees’ since 2021/22, as they’ve yet to lose a competitive home game this season (W13, D4).

On the other hand, Brentford’s rough patch continued at the weekend as they slumped to a 4-1 home loss to Man City’s fiercest title rivals Liverpool, making it three defeats in their last four Premier League outings (W1). The visitors’ defensive frailties saw them concede 3+ goals in all three losses during that stretch, an ominous sign given Man City’s well-documented scoring prowess. But confidence stems from Brentford’s 2-0 win against Wolverhampton on their last Premier League travel, which halted a dreadful five-game losing league streak on the road and marked their first clean sheet on hostile turf since late October. Adding to manager Thomas Frank’s hopes of upsetting the apple cart, his men have netted over 1.5 goals on their last three road trips in domestic action.