Brentford vs Manchester City Prediction & Betting Tips (5 February)

Brentford are currently 15th in the Premier League but are only 4 points ahead of the first relegated team. The Bees have been getting dangerously close to the red zone for several weeks. After a terrible series of 5 defeats in a row, they showed a reaction by taking the upper hand, at home, over Nottingham Forest 3-2. This week, they immediately fell back with a short setback suffered in the den of Tottenham 3-2. Eliminated from the two National Cups, Brentford can focus on its maintenance in the league.

Considered the big favorite for its own succession, Manchester City is now in 2nd place in the Premier League with 1 game less and 5 points behind on Liverpool. Held in check in mid-December by Crystal Palace at home 2-2, the Cityzens then went on to win 4 games against Everton 1-3, Sheffield United 2-0, Newcastle 2-3 and Burnley this week 3-1. Winners of the Club World Cup recently, they also won at Tottenham last weekend in the FA Cup 0-1. In the Champions League, Manchester City will face Copenhagen in the round of 16.

For this meeting, Brentford is still deprived of top scorer Mbeumo (7 goals and 3 assists in PL), potentially starting defenders Hickey and Henry and striker Schade. In addition, starters Wissa and Onyeka are still absent due to their participation in the CAN while replacement Ghoddos is with Iran for the Asian Cup. Returning from a long suspension on January 20, England international Ivan Toney scored in his first two league matches. He should be associated with Neal Maupay (4 goals and 3 assists in PL) who found the net in the last 4 matches played in all competitions. During the winter transfer window, the left side Reguilon (Tottenham), the young Turkish defensive midfielder Emre Konak (18 years old, Sivasspor) and the Icelandic goalkeeper Valdimarsson (Elfsborg) arrived. For Manchester City, only the participation of the important defender Akanji is not guaranteed this weekend.

Otherwise, it's all hands on deck since striker Haaland (14 goals and 4 assists in the PL) was able to play again this week after almost 2 months of injury. In his absence, Julian Alvarez (8 goals and 6 assists in the PL) stood out, notably with a double against Burnley this week. Now well back from his injury, playmaker De Bruyne has returned to a very good level (1 goal and 3 assists in the last 4 matches). This winter, virtually unused midfielder Phillips was loaned to West Ham while replacement goalkeeper Steffen joined MLS (Colorado). The promising attacking midfielder Echeverri (18 years old) has been recruited but he will finish the season with his current club (River Plate).