Manchester City will look to keep their Premier League hopes alive as they welcome European-hopefuls Brentford to the Etihad on Saturday Night Football.
Manchester City saw their three-game winning streak come to an end on Monday Night Football, as they required a couple of late goals to rescue a point in a 3-3 draw away at Everton.
Those dropped points subsequently meant that Pep Guardiola’s charges are now second favourites for the Premier League title, as they now sit five points behind the Gunners with just one game in hand.
Therefore, the Cityzens can ill afford to drop any more points, but they will take confidence from the fact that they are unbeaten in their last 15 Premier League fixtures at the Etihad (W12-D3-L0), having won four of the past five.
Brentford managed to put a halt to their six-game winless streak in the Premier League last weekend, as they ran out 3-0 winners at home to relegation-threatened West Ham United.
Keith Andrews’s visitors have now climbed up into seventh position following that win, just a point behind Bournemouth in sixth.
How the bookies view it: City favourites
Manchester City are expected to bounce back from those dropped points in Merseyside last time out, with bet365 pricing a home success at just 19/50.
Brentford are 6/1 underdogs to record back-to-back wins for the first time since the start of February, whilst the draw is 9/2.
Head to head: City with the upper hand
Manchester City have been victorious in six of their nine Premier League meetings with Brentford (W6-D1-L2), winning four of their past five (W4-D1-L0), including a 0-1 victory in the reverse fixture in West London at the beginning of October.
Players to watch: In-form Doku to deliver again?
Jeremy Doku had initially given Manchester City the lead at Everton on Monday, but his second of the game in the 97th minute salvaged a point for the blue side of Manchester.
The Belgian winger has now scored four goals and provided two assists across his last five appearances for the Cityzens, and is an appealing 10/11 to Score or Assist at the Etihad on Saturday evening.
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Predicted line-ups:
Manchester City will still be without the injured Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol, whilst Rodri is a doubt.
Brentford will still be missing the injured Antoni Milambo, Vitaly Janelt and Fabio Carvalho, whilst Rico Henry and Jordan Henderson are doubts.
Manchester City: Donnarumma, Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, O’Reilly, Gonzalez, Silva, Semenyo, Cherki, Doku, Haaland
Brentford: Kelleher, Kayode, Collins, van den Berg, Lewis-Potter, Jensen, Yarmoliuk, Ouattara, Damsgaard, Schade, Thiago
Anything else catch the eye?
Manchester City simply have to win each of their last four Premier League matches if they have any chance of claiming the Premier League title, and I think they will manage to win the first of those on Saturday.
As alluded to, Pep Guardiola’s men have won 12 of their past 15 Premier League clashes at the Etihad (W12-D3-L0), with 10 of those victories seeing three or more goals.
What’s more, eight of their last 11 Premier League fixtures across all venues have seen a minimum of three strikes, so combining a Home Win & Over 2.5 Goals appeals to me, which pays 3/4 at BOYLE Sports.
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