The Etihad giants failed to defend their title last season, dropping to third place in the Premier League. This season, they are also trailing the leader, which is now Arsenal. However, the gap has narrowed to two points, and in the last round, they defeated a solid Crystal Palace side. There have also been slip-ups in the Champions League, such as the 0-2 loss to Bayer. However, against Real Madrid, they came from behind to win.
The London club, under Frank’s management last season, collected 56 points to close the top 10. In the summer, Thomas moved to Tottenham, and their key stars were sold. Even so, the current manager, Andrews, has generally managed to keep his new charges among the Premier League’s mid-table teams. Recently, however, there have only been defeats to Arsenal and Tottenham and a draw against Leeds.
In the League Cup, Guardiola’s side confidently beat Huddersfield 2-0 and Swansea 3-1, even though Pep fields an experimental lineup in these games. Their visitors have already played three matches—first beating Bournemouth 2-0, then Aston Villa on penalties, and in October thrashing Grimsby 5-0, who had knocked Manchester United out of the tournament.
Manchester City have won all of their last five matches
On average, Manchester City score 2.38 goals and concede 1 goal per game
44% of Manchester City’s matches end with both teams scoring, with an average total of 3.38 goals per game
Brentford have lost four of their last seven matches
On average, Brentford score 1.38 goals and concede 1.56 goals per game
63% of Brentford’s matches end with both teams scoring, with an average total of 2.94 goals per game.
Manchester City (probable lineup): Trafford – Ait-Nouri, Ake, Khusanov, Lewis – Mukasa, Nico Gonzalez, Doku, Cherki, Bobb – Marmoush.
Brentford (probable lineup): Valdimarsson – Henry, Pinnock, van den Berg, Arthur – Jensen, Onyeka, Nelson, Carvalho, Lewis-Potter – Ouattara.
In the last five encounters, the London club managed only one draw against the favorite.
