Brentford vs Manchester City (Premier League): Match Preview, Team News, Head to Head, How to Watch

The reigning Premier League champions travel to West London as they look to keep their improved run of recent form high with a match against Brentford, a side that has given them trouble over the previous two seasons.

Manchester City come into Monday night’s match fresh off the back of a dominant victory against the recently-promoted Burnley, managed by all-time Etihad Stadium great Vincent Kompany.

The Clarets certainly could have used their manager’s defensive prowess however, as Julian Alvarez ended the contest with a brace to his name to celebrate his 24th birthday, bringing his season-scoring tally in the Premier League to eight goals.

Elsewhere on Monday night’s score sheet for Manchester City was Rodri, who rocketed a ball into the back of the net just moments into the second half, replicating many of his previous infamous strikes for the club over the past few years.

Ederson would be denied a clean sheet however, as Ameen Al-Dahkii put a goal past the Brazilian keeper in the 93rd minute of the contest, in a strike that would prove to be nothing more than a consolation for the visitors.

Apart from getting a crucial three points, victory in midweek saw two big returns in Kevin De Bruyne back to the starting eleven, as well as Erling Haaland and the Norwegian’s cameo appearance in ending a two-month hiatus due to a stress fracture in his foot.

On the other side of Monday’s ticket sits Brentford, who come into the match off the back of a 2-3 loss to Tottenham, where Ivan Toney and Neal Maupay’s scoring efforts were not enough to go above those of Richarlison, Brennan Johnson, and Destiny Udogie.

Fixture Details

The match between Brentford and Manchester City will take place on Monday 5 February at the Brentford Community Stadium, with kick-off scheduled for 20:00 BST.

Team News

While availability has been an issue for Pep Guardiola for the most part of this season, that will not be the case against the Bees on Monday night, as the Catalan coach will have his full squad available, with Manuel Akanji becoming the latest to have been given the green light.

 “Everybody is fit, everybody is ready. Manu (Akanji) is fit as well,” said Guardiola while speaking during his pre-match press conference.

Head To Head

Despite Manchester City’s dominance during their historical 2022/23 Treble-winning campaign, the Cityzens struggled against Brentford and dropped all available points in both of their matches against the West London side.

In fact, their only goal away to Thomas Frank’s men came in 2022, when a single Phil Foden effort was enough to snatch a 0-1 victory on the road and en route to yet another Premier League title.

Statistics

• Brentford did the Premier League double over Manchester City last season, beating them 2-1 away and 1-0 at home. The last team to win three in a row against the Citizens were Liverpool (4 between March 2015 and December 2016).

• Pep Guardiola has never lost three consecutive top-flight meetings with an opponent before, something Brentford could achieve in this match.

• Manchester City have lost two of their last four Premier League away games against London sides (W1 D1), as many as they had in their previous 16 trips to the capital (W12 D2).

• Having drawn each of their first three home league games this season, none of Brentford’s last eight at the Gtech Community Stadium have finished level (W4 L4). The Bees have kept just one clean sheet in 11 home league games this term (3-0 v Burnley), but have also only failed to score once so far (0-1 v Arsenal).

• Manchester City have won their last three Premier League away games despite having trailed in each of them. Only Manchester United have ever won four consecutive away games despite falling behind in them all in the competition, doing so in six in a row between September and December 2020.

How to Watch

For viewers in the United Kingdom, you can view Monday night’s match live on Sky Sports.

Viewers in the United States can view the match on USA Network, with kick-off scheduled for 3:00 p.m. EST.

City Xtra will also have live coverage of the game across our X, Facebook, and Instagram, with our live WatchAlong show available on our official YouTube channel from 7:00PM (UK) – subscribe and turn notifications on!