Brentford v Manchester City predictions: Depleted Bees no match for champions

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Brentford v Manchester City in the Premier League on Wednesday.

Where to watch

Amazon Prime Video, 8.15pm Wednesday

Best bet

Manchester City to win & over 3.5 goals
3pts 7-5 general

Team news

Brentford
Rico Henry and Bryan Mbeumo are doubtful and Christian Norgaard serves a one-match suspension. Vitaly Janelt (coronavirus) joins the Bees' long list of absentees.

Manchester City
John Stones is out and Kyle Walker and Rodri will be assessed. Injured forward Ferran Torres is finalising his move to Barcelona.

Match preview

Premier League champions Manchester City have shown absolutely no mercy to depleted opponents in recent weeks and it could be a similar story when they travel to injury-hit Brentford.

On paper at least, this could be a tricky fixture for Pep Guardiola's men. Brentford have won their last two home matches against Everton and Watford, beat Arsenal 2-0 in their first game back in the top flight in August and claimed a thrilling 3-3 draw with Liverpool.

In October they lost 1-0 to Chelsea despite having seven shots on target to the European champions' one yet they are chalked up as 20-1 underdogs for the clash with the Citizens.

In part, of course, that is due to the quality of a visiting side who are aiming for a tenth consecutive league victory.

This time last year City opened their legs and showed their class to take control of the title race and their winter form is again sending shivers down the spines of the other championship contenders.

They have been irresistible since a shock home defeat to Crystal Palace at the end of October, kicking off their winning streak with a comprehensive 2-0 derby victory at Manchester United.

City started December with away wins at Aston Villa (2-1) and Watford (3-1) but needed a second-half penalty from Raheem Sterling to break down ten-man Wolves at the Etihad Stadium.

They have cut loose in devastating fashion since then, however, thrashing Leeds 7-0, winning 4-0 at Newcastle and racing into a 4-0 lead inside 25 minutes of the Sunday's with Leicester.

The Foxes battled back to make it 4-3 in the second half before goals from Aymeric Laporte and the in-form Sterling sealed a 6-3 win and it is hard to see Brentford keeping the champions quiet in west London.

While other Premier League managers are struggling to find enough fit players to fill their matchday squads, Guardiola had a potential front three of Phil Foden, Gabriel Jesus and Jack Grealish on the bench against Leicester.

His opposite number Thomas Frank, in contrast, has been hampered by a significant injury list for much of the season and may be without another three first-team regulars against City.

Christian Norgaard is suspended after his yellow card in the 2-0 defeat at Brighton, where Bryan Mbeumo went off injured, and Vitaly Janelt is sidelined after testing positive for Covid-19.

The scale of Brentford's injury crisis makes a difficult task virtually impossible and backing City to win a match featuring over 3.5 goals looks a good bet.

The Bees have conceded 11 goals in matches against the bottom five - Leeds, Watford, Burnley, Newcastle and Norwich - and that statistic does not bode well for their chances against a City side averaging 2.63 goals per game this term.

Key stat

Manchester City have won their last nine league matches, scoring 30 goals.

Inside info

Brentford

Penalty taker Ivan Toney
Free-kick wizard Ivan Toney
Set-piece aerial threat Pontus Jansson
Card magnet Sergi Canos

Manchester City

Penalty taker Riyad Mahrez/Raheem Sterling
Free-kick wizard Kevin De Bruyne
Set-piece aerial threat Ruben Dias
Card magnet Joao Cancelo

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