Man City were held to a 1-1 draw by Southampton in their last Premier League game but Guardiola’s side got back to winning ways after beating Fulham in the 4th Round of the FA Cup.
With things promptly back on track, Man City will now be looking to further cement their position at the top of the Premier League table by beating Brentford in midweek.
The Bees are in a really poor patch of form, losing their previous four league games and since Man City have dropped points in just five games this season, this one should be an easy three-pointer for the Cityzens.
City have a nine-point gap at the top of the table right now but they have played one game more than Liverpool so they need to win against Brentford in order to maintain the gap and keep the pressure on Jurgen Klopp’s side. Guardiola rotated his first XI for the Fulham game but we should see his strongest line up play on Wednesday.
Man City team news vs Brentford:
Ederson, Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte were all rested during the weekend but all of them will be coming back into the side when the Bees come to town.
The return of Dias and Laporte means John Stones will once again have to move to the bench. Walker and Cancelo though had to feature vs Fulham so they will hold onto their full-back roles.
Gundogan played and scored against Fulham which is an indication that Bernardo Silva will be getting the nod in midweek alongside Kevin De Bruyne. Rodri is also going to come back into the side, replacing the experienced Fernandinho.
𝐒𝐊𝐘 𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐌𝐈𝐓. @PhilFoden pic.twitter.com/MHwAYYd33Q
— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) February 5, 2022
In the 4th Round win, Pep Guardiola had opted to use a forward line of Mahrez, Grealish and Foden with Grealish playing as the false nine but we have a feeling the former Villa man is going to make way for his international teammate, Raheem Sterling.
Sterling came off the bench in the 4-1 win but he is the one who’s likely to start on the left flank as Phil Foden moves into the false nine role.
Gabriel Jesus came back from international duty with a few knocks so the Man City boss will be reluctant to use him. At best, he will find a place on the bench.
if Jesus is ruled out then Guardiola has only four fully fit forward players for the Brentford game which means only one of them will be unlucky to be on the bench from the start.
Man City injury updates:
Cole Palmer – Not Ready – Ruled out.
Gabriel Jesus – Knock – Likely to be unavailable.
Benjamin Mendy – Ruled out.
Recent form:
Manchester City – WWWWD
Brentford – WLLLL
Man City vs Brentford – Kick-off date & time:
The match will be played at the Etihad Stadium on the 9th of February. Kick-off is at 19:45 GMT.
Stats via Fotmob.
