Manchester City will return to league matters after the international break with a straightforward 3-0 home win over Brentford.
Manchester City face Brentford at the Etihad Stadium this weekend after racking up three successive Premier League victories prior to the international break. Two wins in three mean Brentford will also come into this fixture brimming with confidence.
City top the table after three straight wins over Chelsea, Ipswich and West Ham. They were given an early scare against Ipswich when falling behind but aside from that, they’ve been at their imperious best.
Talismanic striker, Erling Haaland, has carried on where he left off last season. The Norwegian ace already has two hat-tricks to his name this term and looks unstoppable in front of goal.
As for Brentford, Thomas Frank’s side have won twice on home soil already this term, beating Palace 2-1 and newly promoted Southampton 3-1.
Away from the Gtech Community Stadium, the Bees are likely to be less of a match for sides this season. They lost 2-0 at Liverpool, managing just two goal attempts on target throughout.
The probable lineup for Manchester City in 3-2-4-1:
Ederson; Akanji, Gvardiol, Dias, Lewis, Kovacic, Doku, Grealish, Silva, De Bruyne, Haaland
The probable lineup for Brentford in 4-3-3:
Flekken; Ajer, Janelt, Collins, Pinnock, Jensen, Norgaard, Damsgaard, Mbeumo, Wissa, Schade
Manchester City are still just as hard to stop going forward in 2024/25 as last season. It’s ominous for the rest of the league that Haaland is already on two hat-tricks for the campaign in just three appearances.
Their home form will once again be the bedrock of their title defence, with most teams fearing a visit to the Etihad Stadium.
Admittedly Brentford’s penultimate visit to the Etihad in November 2022 ended in a shock 2-1 victory for the Bees. Ironically, this was City’s last defeat on home soil, so Guardiola’s men will be keen to right the wrongs of that result.
Manchester City vs Brentford Tip 1: Manchester City to Win @ 1.18 with 1xBet
Historically speaking, most of the top teams in the Premier League take a while to get back into their rhythm after an international break.
Manchester City are no different, especially with Haaland on international duty twice with Norway. We still expect City to break the deadlock in the opening 45 minutes, but we don’t anticipate the floodgates to open.
City have the Champions League to think about too, with their group stage campaign kicking off next week against Inter.
Manchester City vs Brentford Tip 2: 1-0 First Half Correct Score @ 3.45 with 1xBet
Although a straight back of City still feels like a sensible play, the value bet of this fixture would be to back City to win and keep a clean sheet too.
This is currently priced at odds against, which raises the eyebrows considering City are normally such a possession and territory-dominant side.
Brentford do have players capable of hurting the City backline but they’ve scored in only one of their three league visits to the Etihad since February 2022.
Manchester City vs Brentford Tip 3: Manchester City to Win & Both Teams to Score (No) @ 2.10 with 1xBet