Brentford vs Manchester City Predicted Lineups, Preview, Odds & Prediction

Both these teams picked up big wins last weekend. Brentford picking up 3 points vs Manchester United was particularly big for their season, and City not dropping points to a team they should beat, given it was 1-1 at half-time, would also be big for their psyche. Man City have had a somewhat inconsistent start to the season, and have certainly found things tougher against better opposition, but 3 wins, 2 losses and a draw and sitting only 3 points off Arsenal is not the worst place to be in heading in to Gameweek 7 of the season. Brentford’s start can be viewed a little more positively given the expectations of money after they lost Thomas Frank, Mbeumo and Wissa was that they would be relegated. Notching 2 wins after 6 games is massive for Brentford, and came sooner than many expected, and shows they may have enough in the squad to stay up. Overall they have won 2, lost 3 and drawn 1, and have a very tough task against a City team that scored 5 against Burnley last week, but Brentford are undefeated at home in the league this season and will look to keep that record intact. Can City show that they truly are stronger side than the one that finished 3rd last season, and that they will routinely punish bottom half opposition, or will Brentford make things tough and show that the Gtech stadium is not going to be an easy place for anyone to visit this season?

• Can City make it 3 wins on the bounce?
• Will Haaland continue his ridiculous form and score again?
• Favourite bet: Haaland to score (4/6) as 1 leg of a bet builder!

Find out all of that and much more in our preview of Brentford vs Manchester City. We have a match preview, predicted lineups, team and injury news, live odds, our score prediction and more for this GW7 matchup.

Match Details:

Fixture: Brentford vs Manchester City

Stadium: Gtech Stadium

Date: Sunday 5th October

Kick-off: 4:30pm BST

Premier League Head-to-Head Record:

This is definitely a new generation’s Premier League fixture, it was not one we grew up with. Under Frank, Brentford always played City close and these have often been competitive, entertaining games, normally full of goals from both teams. Overall Manchester City do have the clear advantage over their recent league meetings, with 3 wins compared to Brentford’s 1 win, and then last season’s 2-2 draw at the Gtech is the only draw in the last 5. Can Brentford replicate the performance from that day and take points from this fixture once again? It will be difficult, City are a slightly different beast than they were last January when they were at their low point of the Guardiola era.

Brentford Manchester City Last 5 Premier League Results

14/01/25 - Brentford 2-2 Manchester City

14/09/24 - Manchester City 2-1 Brentford

20/02/24 - Manchester City 1-0 Brentford

05/02/24 - Brentford 1-3 Manchester City

28/05/23 - Brentford 1-0 Manchester City

Brentford Overview and Form:

Brentford have had a good start to their season given the outlook and expectation heading into it. After losing the man who lead them in this era, Thomas Frank, as well as the 2 stars of the team he built in Mbeumo and Wissa, the expectation of many was that they could be relegated. But after 6 games, they have 2 wins, a draw and 3 losses, and sit 13th in the league, 1 point off 8th. The victory over Manchester United last weekend was huge and provides them momentum and confidence coming in to this game, as it maintained their undefeated start to the season at the Gtech stadium. They will be looking to stay undefeated at home against another Manchester team this weekend.

Brentford have looked more than competent as an attacking outfit so far this season. They have scored in every game this season, scoring a total of 9 goals in their 6 league games and rank 8th in the league for xG. Very good work from Keith Andrews given the attacking talents that walked out of the door this summer, with Ouattara being the only attacking signing of note. Damsgaard is Brentford’s best player and their key chance creator and the heartbeat of everything they do in possession. Schade has gone from strength to strength and is a quality Premier League Forward. Thiago is a handful and has scored some great goals already this season and should continue to get better with more game time. Brentford certainly have the talent to hurt Manchester City’s defence and have shown that Keith Andrews system is working and their play style is working for them.

Defensively is where Brentford are going to have to answer some questions and improve if they are to avoid a drawn out relegation fight. They have conceded 11 goals already, which is tied 4th most in the league and have only kept 1 clean sheet which came against a Villa team that went goalless in their first 4 league games. They have conceded the 4th most xG in the league also, and Keith Andrews will have to find the best out of possession and defensive balance for his team in terms of lineup selection and also which formation he utilises out of the 5-3-2 and 4-2-3-1 systems he employs. They have solid defensive personnel – Kayode is a top talent, Collins and Van den Berg complement each other quite well as a pairing and Lewis Potter is a fun player, but they need to sure things up if they are to stay around mid table rather than being in a battle to avoid going down.

Brentford will have to defend better to get a result in this one, against a Manchester City team rounding in to form with a Haaland that is on fire. Brentford will likely not have a lot of the ball so their out of possession intensity and focus will have to be on point, and they will have to combine pressing City at times with also dropping back into a low block and staying compact once City do break the press. City’s defence is still frail and can definitely be got at particularly in transition,, so if Brentford can unleash Schade, Thiago and Damsgaard in to space after winning the ball back, they can find success.

Manchester City Overview and Form:

Manchester City have started to round in better form to some degree, although a 2-2 draw in the Champions League against Monaco on Wednesday somewhat puts a dent in the momentum. In the league City have won 2 of their last 3, with a draw against Arsenal at the Emirates sandwiched in between wins over Manchester United and the 5-1 win over Burnley last weekend. Overall they have 3 wins, 2 losses and a draw and are 7th in the league, but only 1 point off 4th having played 3 of the traditional big 6 already. While a title charge does not currently look highly likely with how they City have performed against the better teams in the league, they certainly look like a stronger outfit and tougher prospect than they were last season.

City as an attacking force look like they are getting back to peak form. Haaland is scoring goals for fun again and averaging more than a goal a game, with 8 in 6 so far. As a team City have scored 14 goals in 6 games, and have scored in every game this season bar the loss to Tottenham. They are 2nd in the league for xG behind only Man United, but City also have 19 big chances created which is 2nd in the league to only Crystal Palace. This is all without Marmoush and Ait-Nouri who should only make them a scarier attacking team. Brentford will have a very tough task keeping City from scoring multiple goals this weekend.

City are still a much weaker team defensively than they ever really have been through the Pep era. The defensive personnel is worse than it was earlier in the Pep era, with the full-back situation being a rotation of less accomplished players most of whom weren’t traditionally even full-backs, and Dias, Stones and Ake no longer being the players they were at their peak. The midfield also doesn’t offer the defence the same kind of protection with Foden and Reijnders as 2 of the 3 and Rodri still returning to his peak level as he gets further away from his ACL injury. They can be cut open in transition which is an issue that has persisted from last season, and that will have to be something City are wary of with Brentford and the likes of Schade, Damsgaard and Thiago.

Overall this is a game Pep will want City to dominate possession and to look to win by controlling the ball and penning Brentford in to their own half. Pep will feel if City can get the first goal, they can look to control the ball with less risks taken and draw Brentford on to them, creating more space in behind for Haaland to kill the game off. The key will be controlling and cutting out transition opportunities for Brentford in the first half, so that City don’t concede first and they can look to take full control of the game.

Match Betting Odds:

Brentford: 7/2

Draw: 16/5

Manchester City: 8/13 

Both Teams to Score Odds: 

Yes: 4/6 (Great value)

No: 6/5

Player to Score Odds:

Erling Haaland: 4/6 (Favourite bet)

Phil Foden: 15/8

Betrino is currently offering over 5% better value on Both Teams to Score compared with the average market line at most major sports books!

 

Lineups will be updated throughout the week in live time as and when injury and lineup news is announced.

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Brentford Predicted Lineup:

Brentford Predicted Lineups GW7

GK - Kelleher

RWB - Kayode

CB - Van den Berg

CB - Collins

CB - Pinnock

LWB - Lewis-Potter

CM - Henderson

CM - Yarmoliuk

CM - Damsgaard

ST - Thiago

ST - Schade

Brentford Team News:

We did not get a Friday press conference with Keith Andrews but it seems there are no major fresh injury concerns for Brentford.

I think for Manchester City, Keith Andrews will shift back to his 5-3-2 that Brentford employed in the 2 games prior to facing United.

Pinnock will start at left centre-back in the 5-3-2. Ouattara who came in for Pinnock last weekend, as Brentford played a 4-3-2-1, will drop to the bench. In this 5-3-2 system, this XI is Keith Andrew’s strongest starting lineup.

Brentford Players to Watch:

Pinnock: Will start while Keith Andrews shifts to a 5-3-2 for this game.

Ouattara: Will drop to the bench for Pinnock if Andrews does switch to the 5-3-2.

Lewis-Potter: Was benched for Hickey last week but likely just rotation, and Potter is more suited to the wing-back role anyway.

Manchester City Predicted Lineup:

Manchester City Predicted Lineup GW7

GK - Donnarumma

RB - Nunes

CB - Dias

CB - Gvardiol

LB - O'Reilly

CM - Rodri

AM - Foden

AM - Reijnders

RW - Savinho

LW - Doku

ST - Haaland

Manchester City Team News:

Against lesser teams, 2 of Savinho, Doku or Marmoush should and likely will start on the wings. When they are facing better teams, Bernardo may come in to play on the wing. Doku and Savinho should start this game.

Guardiola also informed the media Friday that “Rayan Ait-Nouri and Rayan Cherki, no. Omar Marmoush and Abdukodir Khusanov, no. Mateo Kovacic, maybe”. Marmoush could be back for this game against Brentford based on the original timeline, but would make the bench at most after a month out. Ait-Nouri’s earliest return based on the original timeline of 5 weeks would mean a potential GW8 return.

Khusanov is set to be out 3 weeks after he suffered a foot injury against Arsenal. Guardiola informed the media quite plainly “He will be out for the next three games, I think”. Tough blow for City, the young defender was playing well.

Rayan Cherki has a quadriceps tear and has been ruled out for around 2 months. A big blow to City especially after a slow start to the season and back-to-back losses.

Manchester City Players to Watch:

Khusanov: Out for the next 3 games.

Ait-Nouri: Out 3 more weeks (ankle).

Rodri: Fit to start.

Savinho: Started at RW last weekend, and should start this weekend given it is Brentford.

Stones: Back from injury. Will start either Monaco or Brentford in Dias’ place to allow the captain some rest.

Marmoush: Out.

Brentford vs Manchester City Preview & Predicted Score:

City will set up in the hybrid 4-3-3 that looks like a 4-1-4-1 on paper that they have been utilising all season, and Brentford will likely shift back to the 5-3-2 they have used at times this season.

Man City will look to establish control of proceedings by controlling the ball and possession, and dominating the chance creation battle. This will be a game City want to take control of early and give Brentford little encouragement. If they can take the lead with Haaland in blistering form, that along with dominating possession and slowing the tempo, can kill the atmosphere and allow City to play this game the way they want to. Controlling Brentford in transition will be absolutely key.

Brentford will look to defend compactly, and to win their duels and spark counter attacks against a City defence and midfield that has struggled defending in space. If Brentford can keep it close and find moments to unleash Schade, Thiago and Damsgaard, they may find some joy and make this a game City are forced to go and push to win in the last 30, which only presents more counter attacking opportunties for Brentford. The Bees will be desperate to keep their unbeaten home streak this season alive.

While I do think Brentford will make this a hard fought game, that is relatively close for most of it, I do think City edge it with the form Haaland is in and the talent City possess when they have the ball in the likes of Doku, Reijnders, Foden and Savinho. I do think Brentford get a goal but I don’t see their defence keeping City from scoring less than 2 and the more pragmatic style of thi City team should allow them to see the game out once they have the lead.

Score Prediction: Brentford 1-2 Manchester City