Brentford head north on Saturday, as they face Premier League champions Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium (3pm kick-off GMT).
The Bees have two wins from three games, having lost their only away game of the term against Liverpool at Anfield. As for City, they have three wins from three, with Erling Haaland netting back-to-back hat-tricks against Ipswich Town and West Ham United.
Analysis, team news, match officials and more. Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the fixture.
Pre-match analysis
Richard Cole, Playmaker Stats: Brentford can take encouragement from recent away trips to City
Brentford travel to the Etihad Stadium once again this Saturday knowing they have caused Pep Guardiola’s side problems there before.
The Bees of course won in Manchester during the 2022/23 season as part of a double over the Cityzens, although fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat back in February. Thomas Frank’s team always offer a stubborn resistance against City.
The reigning Premier League champions have started the 2024/25 campaign as they finished the last one and are currently top after just three games played, thanks to having scored more goals (nine) than second-place Liverpool (seven). City have also hit the woodwork more times than any other team (three), so that number could have been even higher
The danger man is of course Erling Haaland, who has scored seven of City’s nine goals himself. In fact, no other Premier League team has scored more than the Norwegian in the league so far this season. The prolific striker has only scored once against Brentford in three meetings, however, although that did turn out to be a 71st-minute winner at the Etihad last season.
It makes sense that the City machine is continuing to operate smoothly from their last campaign considering the relatively small change in the squad. Former player İlkay Gündoğan has returned, while exciting forward Savinho, who has spent plenty of time in the City Football Group, is the only fresh face at the club.
As expected, Guardiola’s team has already topped the passing stats: 2,016 made in total so far with an average pass completion of 91.6 per cent. No other team in the top flight matches those numbers, although Tottenham Hotspur (69 per cent) and Southampton (68 per cent) do have more average possession than City (65 per cent) so far.
Not hogging the ball has never been an issue for Brentford though. The Bees have had an average of just 40 per cent possession in their first three games but have enjoyed two victories and are currently fifth in the table.
Frank’s team will be set up to counter City whenever possible while staying compact and hoping to cut off any supply to Haaland. Brentford may want to think about being a bit more ruthless in their tackles though, considering only City have committed fewer fouls (16) than the Bees (23) so far this season.
One man who may help Brentford cause an upset is Mark Flekken. The shot-stopper has made a fine start to the season and has recorded 17 saves already, more than any other goalkeeper in the Premier League. Zooming out to the ‘top five’ European leagues, the 31-year-old is joint-top alongside compatriot Jasper Cillessen, now of Las Palmas in Spain.
Of course, Flekken has shone against City in the past, including providing an assist for Neal Maupay in the 3-1 defeat at the Gtech Community Stadium last season, while also making nine saves in total at the Etihad last season.
Hopefully, he won’t need to make as many this time out!
Scout Report
Dan Long, Sky Sports: Haaland is back to his best – and perhaps even better than before
Manchester City once again demonstrated their total dominance of English football last season.
Pep Guardiola’s side won a fourth straight Premier League title and became the first team in English football history to win four top-flight titles in succession. It was their eighth since the 2011/12 campaign.
They were pushed to their limits by Arsenal and Liverpool, though, which proved the gulf in class is rapidly narrowing and near-perfection going forward is what it will take to maintain their history-making streak.
The Gunners – their newfound foes – appeared to have set the tone by winning the Community Shield at Wembley on penalties before a ball was kicked in the league, and it was them and Jurgen Klopp’s Reds who, for the most part, took turns to leapfrog one another at the top of the table.
City’s progress was slowed through November and into December by an exhilarating 4-4 draw with Chelsea, a 1-1 draw with Liverpool, another pulsating encounter with Tottenham that ended 3-3 and a 1-0 loss at Aston Villa. “We have to change the dynamic, winning as soon as possible against Luton and Crystal Palace to continue to be there [at the top],” said Guardiola after the latter.
Rodri’s absence through suspension was notable in that game; City’s five previous defeats up to and including that game had all come when the Spaniard was not in the team.
Even though injury kept Erling Haaland out of the next five league matches and the successful Club World Cup campaign in Saudi Arabia, City did not lose again in the Premier League. Arsenal barely stuttered, but nine wins in a row to close the campaign sealed the title by a two-point margin.
Things were not quite so fruitful in the remainder of the domestic competitions. There was no progression past the third round in the Carabao Cup, the defence of the Champions League ended at the quarter-final stage and City suffered Manchester derby defeat to United in the FA Cup final.
Now they have a chance to make the final year of Guardiola’s contract the best one yet. Whether his future lies at the Etihad or elsewhere remains to be seen, but it is expected to be his last season at the club. Therefore, you can bank on them going for glory in as many of the six competitions they will play in as they can. What’s new?
The Community Shield is in the bag, the Champions League draw looks to have been fairly kind and City have started the Premier League season with a flourish, with three wins from three against Chelsea, Ipswich and West Ham. Haaland is certainly back to his best, too – and perhaps even better than before – with seven goals across those games, including two hat-tricks on the trot.
There’s nothing to suggest Man City’s dominance stops here.
In the Dugout
Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola was born an hour’s drive from Barcelona and joined the club’s La Masia academy in 1984, aged 13. He rose through the ranks and became a key part of Johan Cruyff’s team in the 1990s, before later playing under Bobby Robson and Louis van Gaal at the Nou Camp.
During 10 full seasons in the first team, the midfielder won 15 trophies, including six La Liga titles and the European Cup in 1991/92. He departed after 17 years in 2001 and played out the rest of his playing days with Roma and Brescia in Italy, Al-Ahli in Qatar, and then in Mexico with Dorados, before calling it quits in 2006.
Before long, he was back in Spain as Barcelona B manager. Promotion in the first season, 2007/08, saw him selected to step up as Frank Rijkaard’s successor and, over the next four seasons, he established himself as one of the great minds of football. His tiki-taka style of play heralded an astonishing 14 trophies, six of which they won during a mind-blowing 2009.
The serial winner took a year’s sabbatical before joining Bayern Munich in June 2013. In Germany, he delivered three straight Bundesliga titles, two German Cups, one European Super Cup and one Club World Cup – the third of a career that had spanned all of six years to that point. By the end of his time in Bavaria, Guardiola already knew his next move, having signed a three-year contract in February 2016 to replace Manuel Pellegrini that summer.
In the eight years since, he has become Manchester City’s most successful manager and is now the longest-serving in the Premier League following Jürgen Klopp’s departure earlier this year and second only to Harrogate’s Simon Weaver for the longest-serving manager in the top four divisions.
The 53-year-old has led City to 18 trophies over the years and they have become a footballing powerhouse; one of Europe’s undoubted elites. His current contract expires next summer and it’s hard to suggest he will not surpass 20 before then.
The Gameplan
With Man City reporter Simon Bajkowski
Manchester Evening News’ Simon Bajkowski reveals Pep Guardiola’s slight tactical tweak this campaign, as well as how the Cityzens are likely to set up this weekend.
He explained: “They have actually been trying something new this season, aware that so many teams have crowded the middle and got used to how they try and build up: they have been playing very wide with the two wingers, if not overlapping, and creating 2-v-1 situations on the wings in order to put more crosses into the box and try and attack from wide areas, rather than central areas.
“It is a bit of a throwback to 2017/18, when they first won the league under Guardiola. It is early days, but it seems to be something a bit different that has certainly helped them early on in the season.”
Last Premier League starting XI v Nottingham Forest (3-2-4-1): Ederson; Gvardiol, Dias, Akanji; Kovačić, Lewis; Grealish, De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Doku; Haaland
Read our full interview with Simon Bajkowski here.
Pre-match press conference
Frank issues injury update
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank has revealed that Kristoffer Ajer is available for the Bees’ clash with City on Saturday – but midfielder Mathias Jensen will miss the visit to the Etihad Stadium.
As for Rico Henry, the Bees boss stated that he has suffered a “minor setback” in his recovery from injury and will not feature this weekend either.
On players returning from the international break, the Bees boss said: “The last one was Ethan Pinnock who arrived this morning, but pretty much everyone is all good and we’re ready to start the show again!
“Ajer trained today and trained Tuesday – he is available for Saturday.
“[Jensen] got a calf injury so will be out for the weekend. He’ll be out for a couple of weeks.”
Frank added: “Rico Henry will not be available, unfortunately. He’s still on track but got a minor, minor, minor muscle injury, that’s why he didn’t play in the behind-closed-doors friendly last week, but we expect him to be on the pitch tomorrow.
“Yes, it’s a setback but it’s not really a setback because it’s nothing to with his knee.
Match Officials
Bond the man with the whistle for Saturday’s clash
Referee: Darren Bond
Assistants: Adrian Holmes and Simon Long
Fourth Official: Ben Toner
Video Assistant Referee: Darren England
Darren Bond will be in charge of Saturday’s clash in Manchester.
He has refereed Brentford 21 times over the years, showing 31 yellows and two red cards in that time – one of those sendings off was at Turf Moor against Burnley last season, when he dismissed Sergio Reguilón within the first 10 minutes.
Last Time Out
Brentford 3 Southampton 1
Bryan Mbeumo bagged a brace as Brentford beat Southampton 3-1 at Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday.
Mbeumo netted either side of half-time, and Yoane Wissa bundled home another, as the Bees held a three-goal advantage heading into the final 20 minutes. Yukinari Sugawara scored a late consolation for the visitors.
