City had to battle hard to defeat Fulham (W 2-1) last weekend with Erling Haaland’s injury-time penalty recorded as their latest goal to win a PL game since November 2017!
Manager Pep Guardiola felt it was one of their best performances since he took over as they played for more than 60 minutes with ten men before securing their third consecutive PL victory.
While that dramatic late show confirmed an 11th consecutive home league win, the Cityzens still trail PL leaders Arsenal by two points.
A win here against Brentford would lift them above the Gunners, even if only for a matter of hours, but potentially see them back atop the table through the World Cup break should the Londoners fail to beat Wolves.
Before that lengthy break, mid-table Brentford will want to get out of a slump that has seen them win just one league game since early September (D4, L3) after being on the wrong end of a late goal last time out, drawing 2-2 with Nottingham Forest.
Manager Thomas Frank described it as “painful” and more suffering could follow here as they have lost the last four head-to-heads, failing to score in the two that took place since their return to the PL.
With star striker Ivan Toney cooperating with an FA betting investigation and injuries piling up, Frank certainly has plenty to worry about.
A particular concern on the road has been slow starts: in each of their last three away games (D1, L2), the Bees conceded the opener before the 25th minute, which is ominous against fast-starting Man City.
Players to watch: Haaland’s record of 16 goals across his last ten PL appearances has matched Luis Suárez’s record of netting 16 times in a ten-game stretch that ended in December 2013. Brentford’s Yoane Wissa is nowhere near as prolific, but has been consistent this term with all three of his PL goals arriving after the 70th minute.
Hot streak: Man City have scored first before the 25th minute in each of their last five home league games.
