Brentford vs Manchester City match preview, analysis, H2H and possible line-ups

Thomas Frank’s Brentford face a very hard opponent in Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City for their season-concluding EPL tie. The Bees host the Champions Elect at the Gtech Community Stadium on Sunday eve.

The Bees must win and hope neither Villa or Tottenham record victories.

Manchester City are coming from Brighton were they were held to a 1-1 draw by Roberto De Zerbi’s men. Phil Foden finished off an opportunity created by Erling Haaland five minutes before the half-hour mark but Julio Enciso rifled home a top corner screamer 13 minutes later from about 25 yards out.

Brentford were victorious over fellow Londoners, Tottenham, over the weekend. Harry Kane smashed home a superb free-kick to give Spurs the lead in the opening eight minutes later. Bryan Mbeumo equalized five minutes into the second half and doubled a dozen minutes later before Yoane Wissa wrapped up a 3-1 comeback two minutes from normal time.

The West London side have everything to fight for going into the last lap of 38 fixtures with one final spot in Europe still up for grabs.

With both the Champions League(4) and Europa League(2) spots decided already in favour of Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, Newcastle, Liverpool and Brighton, Brentford find themselves in a battle to win the ticket for participation in the Europa Conference League next term.

The Bees sit in ninth position with 56 points in 37 games, a point behind Tottenham(57) in 8th, who also lag Unai Emery’s Aston Villa by a single point(58).

Brentford are hoping they can replicate their outstanding feat against Manchester City, having run out winners over the Premier League winners in their meeting at the Etihad last November. Ivan Toney was on target twice for Thomas Frank’s side, scoring a dying minute winner after Phil Foden had cancelled out his early goal on the brink of halftime.

Thomas Frank and his team have the most difficult opponents of all three teams aspiring for Conference League football next season. Aston Villa get to play an already-fulfilled Brighton at the Villa Park while Tottenham make the trip to Elland Road to take on a relegation-haunted Leeds United side. But Brentford find themselves going up against a very difficult, rather unstoppable opponent in mighty Manchester City.

A rare, hard-to-find victory over the Champions League finalists would see Brentford move up to 60 points. Nonetheless, The Bees would end up with nothing should any of Aston Villa or Tottenham record conquest against Brighton or Leeds United respectively. A draw is all they can spare from the duo should they pull off another stunning upset, this time on home soil.

Having already lifted the EPL trophy after the game against Chelsea this past Sunday, City would approach the tie at West London with ease. Guardiola would however not take his opponents for granted after last year’s upset, as they look to extend their unbeaten run to 26 games in all competitions ahead of the FA Cup final against Manchester United next weekend and the UEFA Champions League final against Inter next month. A win would see the champions end the campaign with 92 points, 29 wins, 5 draws and 4 losses.

Brentford vs Manchester City key stats

• City are on a 25-game unbeaten run in all competitions, last losing 1-0 to Tottenham on February 5.
• City have lost four of their past six away games to Brentford. However, two of these fixtures were in 1989, one each in 1937 and 1951.
• Manchester City have won four of their past five games against Brentford.
• Of all six losses recorded by Guardiola’s side this season, The Citizens have been beaten four times on away soil with a single home loss and one on neutral terms.
• Brentford have won four of their last five games in the Premier League
• Thomas Frank and Guardiola have met thrice with the Spaniard winning twice and drawing once.
• The Citizens have won twelve out of their last thirteen Premier League games
• Brentford have won four of their last five Premier League fixtures.
• In sixteen games against London sides this season, City have won fourteen times and lost twice. In six games at London, they have won five times and lost once.

Brentford vs Manchester City H2H and form:

Games played: 16

Manchester City: 9 wins

Brentford: 6 wins

Games drawn: 1

Past five meetings:

Manchester City 4-1 Brentford (04-11-1989)

Brentford 0-1 Manchester City (25-01-1997)

Brentford 0-1 Manchester City (29-12-2021)

Manchester City 2-0 Brentford (09-02-2022)

Manchester City 1-2 Brentford (12-11-2022)

Manchester City: 4 wins, 1 loss

Brentford: 1 win, 4 losses

Past five EPL fixtures:

Brentford:

(A) 2-0 Chelsea

(H) 2-1 Nottingham Forest

(A) 0-1 Liverpool

(H) 2-0 West Ham

(A) 3-1 Tottenham

Form: WWLWW

Manchester City:

(H) 3-0 West Ham

(H) 2-1 Leeds United

(A) 3-0 Everton

(H) 1-0 Chelsea

(A) 1-1 Brighton

Form: WWWWD

Brentford: 9th in the Premier League, 56 points, 14-14-9

Manchester City: 1st in the Premier League, 89 points, 28-5-4

Brentford vs Manchester City key players:

Brentford:

Bryan Mbeumo:

LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 20: Bryan Mbeumo of Brentford celebrates scoring their teams first goal during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Brentford FC at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on May 20, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Chloe Knott – Danehouse/Getty Images)

Brentford’s go-to-guy for goals at the moment. Has scored four times in the past five games for The Bees. Has also assisted twice. Nine goals and seven assists to the good on the overall in the Premier League this season.

Brentford vs Manchester City injuries and suspensions:

Brentford:

Christian Norgaard, Pontus Jansson and Keane Lewis-Potter remain the unavailable trio for The Bees.

Thomas Frank’s side would be without Englishman, Ivan Toney. The forward continues to serve a suspension term for breaching FA betting rules.

Manchester City:

Nathan Ake remains on the injury list player with Phil Foden, Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji, Jack Grealish and Aymeric Laporte all joining in.

Foden may most likely not be risked for the match against Brentford which means he gets seen next against United or Inter in either final. The injuries for Dias, Akanji, Laporte, Grealish and Stones may not be so serious and if they are given a run-out of the match against Brentford on Saturday, we should see them return in time for the two crucial finals.

Possible line-ups:

Brentford:

4-3-3: Raya, Henry, Mee, Pinnock, Hickey, Jensen, Janelt, Onyeka, Schade, Wissa, Mbeumo.

Manchester City:

3-2-4-1: Ortega, Lewis, Dias, Walker, Silva, Rodri, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Mahrez, Alvarez, Haaland.