Brentford vs Man City LIVE commentary: Bees hope to claim three-peat over Guardiola as champions chase Liverpool – kick-off time, team news and how to follow

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Published: 11:18, 5 Feb 2024Updated: 11:20, 5 Feb 2024

Manchester City will be desperate to pile the pressure on Premier League leaders Liverpool when they travel to face Brentford tonight.

The defending champions can leapfrog Arsenal to close the gap to Jurgen Klopp's Reds to just two points with a victory following their 3-1 defeat to the Gunners on Sunday.

De Bruyne's return been a big boost for Man City in recent weeksCredit: Getty

City will also be extra motivated for revenge against Brentford, who were the only team to do the double over them last season.

The last team to win three in a row against the Citizens were Liverpool (four wins between March 2015 and December 2016), while Pep Guardiola has never lost three consecutive top-flight matches against the same opponent.

But the Bees have suffered a difficult campaign this year, with a horrendous winter period seeing them win just one of their last nine.

Thomas Frank's men's 3-2 defeat to Tottenham in midweek left them languishing in 15th, with only a three-point gap to the drop zone.

Brentford vs Man City: Haaland's back

Guardiola has confirmed that talismanic striker Erling Haaland is primed to be released from the start against Brentford.

The Norwegian made his long-awaited return from injury during the second half of City's 3-1 win over Burnley last week.

Haaland missed 10 games during a two-month spell on the sidelines, but still remains the Premier League's joint-top scorer on 14 goals.

He is now set to start a top-flight game for the first time since December 6 - but that won't be his only motivation.

Haaland has scored against 20 of the 21 sides he’s faced in the Premier League with the only exception being Brentford.

Among players to face at least three teams, only Harry Kane has scored against every opponent he’s faced (32/32).

Haaland will be itching to break his goalscoring duct against the Bees Despite playing just 199 minutes across six appearances in all competitions this season, Man City’s Kevin De Bruyne has been involved in five goals (1 goal, 4 assists), averaging a goal involvement every 40 minutes so far this term. Brentford striker Ivan Toney has scored in each of his last four Premier League home games. He last netted in five consecutive home league games between January and March 2020 with Peterborough United. Brentford haven’t kept a clean sheet in any of their last 11 Premier League games, losing eight of their last 10 in the competition (W2). They’ve conceded at least twice in each of their last five, last doing so in more consecutive league games between March and May 2007 (8).

Brentford vs Man City: What has been said?

Guardiola has told Real Madrid they should give Man City a call to put in an offer for Haaland if they want to sign him.

Guardiola said: "For one report, for one journalist or one Twitter account, one Instagram account, do you think they are going to change something that is going to happen? It's not going to happen.

"It's going to happen when Erling decides to extend the contract or not, when the club decides to extend a contract or not, or when we have potential offers to him or not.

"If someone wants Erling, it's easy. Call Man City and ask. It's what we do when we want to sign someone. It's not more complicated than that."

Brentford are in a miserable vein of formCredit: 2024 Charlotte Wilson/Offside Brentford have dropped a league-high 23 points from winning positions in the Premier League this season – it’s as many such points as they’d lost in their previous two campaigns in the competition combined (8 in 2021-22, 15 last season). Manchester City have won their last three Premier League away games despite having trailed in each of them. Only Manchester United have ever won four consecutive away games despite falling behind in them all in the competition, doing so in six in a row between September and December 2020. Having drawn each of their first three home league games this season, none of Brentford’s last eight at the Gtech Community Stadium have finished level (W4 L4). The Bees have kept just one clean sheet in 11 home league games this term (3-0 v Burnley), but have also only failed to score once so far (0-1 v Arsenal).

Toney is much more than just a goalscorer for Brentford

Brentford vs Man City: Team news

Tottenham loanee Sergio Reguilon could start after being unable to face his parent club in midweek, with fellow full-backs Aaron Hickey and Rico Henry out injured.

The hosts also have Bryan Mbeumo and Kevin Schade in the treatment room, with Frank Onyeka, Yoane Wissa, and Saman Ghoddos unavailable due to international duty.

City have a clean bill of health to contend with, following Manuel Akanji's return from a knee issue.

Haaland is expected to start, while Kyle Walker may come back in from the start after being rested against Burnley.

Walker praised manager Guardiola for his understanding around his private lifeCredit: Getty Man City have lost two of their last four Premier League away games against London sides (W1 D1), as many as they had in their previous 16 trips to the capital (W12 D2). Man City boss Pep Guardiola has never lost three consecutive top-flight meetings with an opponent before, something Brentford could achieve in this match. Brentford did the Premier League double over Manchester City last season, beating them 2-1 away and 1-0 at home. The last team to win three in a row against the Citizens were Liverpool (4 between March 2015 and December 2016).