Fatigued City offer generous headstart to Bees
Manchester City take on Brentford at the Etihad Stadium in aiming to climb to the summit of the Premier League ahead of the World Cup break.
Erling Haaland has been in and out of the side in the last couple of weeks, not required in the usual capacity for City to get the better of Fulham and Chelsea in their last two matches.
The Bees were humbled by a penalty shoot-out defeat at home to Gillingham in midweek but do have a schedule advantage heading into the fixture.
The calendar has been so relentless for teams like City with European commitments, that even the deepest squads have suffered a regression in performance levels and this weekend could be a continuation of that.
Process
City have not been as convincing in recent weeks when you look at their margins of victory but beating a Fulham side who have started the season strongly when playing the majority of the game with ten players showed their true class.
Pep Guardiola’s men are the best team in the division, and arguably on the planet, according to the underlying numbers, overperforming thanks to Haaland’s ruthlessness in front of goal, to score 39 goals from 28.5 expected goals (xG) for from 13 league encounters.
Brentford have a healthy attacking process and look likely to comfortably consolidate in the top-flight for a second consecutive season.
The Bees are creating chances at 1.6 xGF per game so far this season in the league, and the news that Ivan Toney missed out on the England World Cup squad may free him up to put in a statement performance against the champions.
Defensively the Bees have been leaky at times this season, but a strong shape behind the ball could be more effective due to the fatigue in City’s ranks, with a large number of their players having one eye on their trip to Qatar.
Goals?
I like unders this weekend in general, however, the Asian Handicap provides a nice headstart to offer the visitors in looking to keep the scoreline respectable.
City have scored in seven of ten.
City have conceded in four of ten.
City have seen both teams score in three of ten.
City have seen over 2.5 goals in five of ten.
Brentford have scored in six of ten.
Brentford have conceded in seven of ten.
Brentford have seen both teams score in five of ten.
Brentford have seen over 2.5 goals in five of ten.
Post bet chat Marcus's Tips:
2-1 Brentford, a message from Ivan Toney to Gareth Southgate.