Manchester City look to have rediscovered their title-winning form, as they head to Brentford on the back of an eight-game winning run. With their star-studded squad back to full fitness, are we seeing another relentless march from Pep Guardiola’s team?
They head to the Brentford Community Stadium on Monday night to meet a side who have sunk into a relegation battle, with eight defeats in their last 10 league games.
- Manchester City to win & both teams to score
- Kevin De Bruyne to make an assist
- Manchester City to win 3-2
City Can Keep Winning Run Alive
City added the Club World Cup to last season’s treble in December and their visit to Saudi Arabia seems to have galvanised them. The Citizens have won eight straight games across all competitions since mid-December, keeping them in the hunt to retain their treble.
Meanwhile, Brentford have won just once across their last nine in all competitions, which has left them just three points above the bottom three. The hosts head into this one with six defeats from their last seven league games, while they’ve already suffered four defeats from five meetings with teams in the top five.
City have tended to peak in the back half of the campaign over recent years and that’s likely to be the case again - their four-game winning streak feels like the start of a dominant run to the end of the campaign.
However, the visitors have managed just one clean sheet across their last 10 league trips and they can continue against a Brentford side who look good going forward. The hosts have seen both teams score in each of their last seven, so back them to score in a defeat.
MAN CITY TO WIN AND BOTH TEAMS TO SORE
De Bruyne Shining After Injury Absence
City are slowly easing Kevin De Bruyne back into the side after his early-season injury, but the Belgian has shown little sign of rust so far. He’s chipped in with an assist in three of his four games since returning to fitness.
When you consider that he only featured for 150 minutes across those four games, his impact looks huge. The Belgian should take another step forward after starting against Burnley in midweek, while the return of Erling Haaland also helps.
With the league’s best striker to tee up, De Bruyne should rack up plenty of assists across the coming months. He can start away to a Brentford side who have conceded 18 times across their last seven.
KEVIN DE BRUYNE TO MAKE AN ASSIST
Another High-Scoring Clash For Bees
Brentford have looked poor at the back of late, but they have made an impression going forward. The Bees have scored twice or more in their last three games, although they only managed one win in that run.
The hosts lost 3-2 at Tottenham in midweek and look set to fall short against this rampant City side. However, it’s worth noting that the Bees won both meetings between these two last term, so they could cause City some issues.
While the Citizens should still secure the points, this could be tricky with Brentford seeing four or more goals scored across five of their last six.
