Manchester City v Brentford – The Opposition

Manchester City welcome Brentford to Etihad Stadium as they look to get back to winning ways in the Premier League. Last time out, the blues drew 1-1 at Southampton in an entertaining game that could have gone either way.

City currently sit top of the Premier League but saw their lead cut to nine points before the winter week off. City progressed to the fifth round of the FA Cup with a 4-1 win over Fulham, while Brentford were also involved in a similar scoreline at Everton, albeit on the wrong end of the result.

Form

Brentford’s form has dipped sine the turn of the year. After losing 1-0 at home to City in the final game of 2020, the Bees won their following two matches at home to Aston Villa (2-1) and away to Port Vale in the FA Cup (4-1). However, Brentford has lost their following five matches and have seen them drop down the table to just eight points above the relegation zone.

Unfortunately for Brentford, all the teams below them bar Norwich have at least two games in hand, with Everton having three, meaning the Bees could find themselves in real trouble should the results of the games in hand not go Brentford’s way.

Danger Men

Ivan Toney presents Brentford’s biggest threat with eight goals in twenty-five matches. Toney has attempted forty-six shots on goal and has a goal conversion rate of 17%. Bryan Mbeumo is next on the list with seven goals from twenty-three matches, however Marcus Forss has the better goal conversion rate with 43%, the highest in the Brentford side. Forss has scored six goals from twelve matches and has attempted fourteen shots on goal.

Leading the assists is Saman Ghoddos with four. From eighteen matches, Ghoddos has created ten chances and has a pass accuracy of 75%. Mathias Jensen has created the most chances with twenty-nine from twenty-one matches, while Ethan Pinnock has attempted the most passes with 1,209.

Who’s the Boss?

Thomas Frank is still in charge at Brentford, however since their last meeting, his win ration has dropped to 45%, wining just two matches since that post-Christmas game.

Last Time Out

City beat the blues 1-0, thanks to a first half Phil Foden goal to send City eight points clear at the top of the table. Thirty points separated the two teams after that match, which has since increased to thirty-four.