Manchester City travel to Brentford for their final match before the international break, eager to bring the three points back north as they continue to chase the Premier League frontrunners. The Blues are currently seventh in the table, five points behind Liverpool and, if Arsenal win today, six points behind the Gunners.
Brentford are struggling at the moment, having lost a couple of their main stars over the summer, but they had enough to beat Manchester United last weekend to record their second
win of the season.
There is not much history between City and Brentford, with the two meeting just 11 times prior to Sunday’s match, with the meeting coming in the FA Cup and one in the League Cup.
Of the eight league meetings, both sides have won three each with two draws the only stalemates. Their first meeting at Brentford in March 1936 ended in a goalless draw, while last season’s 2-2 draw saw the home side come back from 2-0 down, after Phil Foden’s double had put City in control.
Overall, Brentford have won five of the 11, beating City in the 1988/89 FA Cup fourth round 3-1 at Griffin Park, and the following season, they recorded a 2-1 win at the same venue in the first leg of their League Cup tie.
City first, and biggest, win at Brentford came in April 1937 when they hammered the Bees 6-2 in their own backyard, whilst Brentford’s biggest win was that FA Cup tie back when City were in the second division and the Bees were a division lower.
City have kept three clean sheets in this fixture, winning two and drawing the other, while the home side have prevented City from scoring twice. The last time they achieved this was in May 2023, when City claimed the European treble.
The Blues have scored 16 goals at Brentford in the history between these two sides, while the Bees have scored 15. Where the home side have scored, they have on all but two occasions, scored at least twice.
Phil Foden loves to score in this fixture too. Apart from his brace last season, the previous year he scored a hat-trick as City won 3-1, giving him five goals in just two games against the West London side. Will he add to that tally on Sunday?
