Kicking off a three-game road trip in the English capital, a revitalised Manchester City seek a fourth win on the spin in Tuesday's Premier League clash with Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Pep Guardiola's merciless men embarrassed Salford City 8-0 in FA Cup action at the weekend, whereas the Bees' sting was rendered ineffective by Plymouth Argyle in a shock 1-0 third-round defeat.
Match preview
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Manchester United's famed Class of 92 may have enjoy remarkable success over Man City during their playing heyday, but the trio of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt were powerless to prevent their Salford City side from suffering an FA Cup crushing at the Etihad.
A James McAtee hat-trick, Jeremy Doku double, Jack Grealish penalty, debut Divin Mubama goal and Nico O'Reilly strike all contributed to a Mancunian mauling on Saturday evening, as Guardiola's youngsters proved that the kids are more than all right.
The emphatic third-round success marked the first time since 1933 that Man City had scored an extraordinary eight goals in one FA Cup match, as the reigning Premier League champions hit a new zenith in their winter revival following top-flight beatings of West Ham United and Leicester City.
A 4-1 hammering of the Hammers on January 4 took the sixth-placed Citizens to within two points of the Champions League places, and while a title five-peat may be out of the question, a top-four finish should not be if Guardiola's men can prolong their customary second-half-of-season surge.
Even in the midst of their unforeseen capitulation, City seldom failed to find the mark in the Premier League and have found the back of the net in each of their last seven Premier League matches, a good omen for the neutrals hoping to witness another Brentford blockbuster.
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Goals are almost always a guarantee when Thomas Frank's men step foot onto familiar territory, but their Gtech Community Stadium powers have waned significantly over the winter period, and Championship strugglers Plymouth were the latest team to knock down a few more West London walls.
Producing Saturday's biggest FA Cup upset, Argyle kept the Bees at bay and booked their fourth-round ticket courtesy of a Morgan Whittaker strike in the final 10 minutes, sending the Green Army home elated and the Brentford faithful home deflated.
That third-round defeat was the harshest of reality checks for Brentford in the wake of their 5-0 Southampton slaughter last time out in the Premier League, a result that saw them finally get off the mark away from home at the 10th attempt and consolidate a mid-table standing.
However, the Bees can no longer proudly claim to be the best-performing home team in the English top flight - that honour belongs to Liverpool - and Frank's men could now lose three straight Premier League games at the Gtech Community Stadium for just the second time.
Speaking of things coming in threes, Man City have prevailed in each of their last three top-flight contests with Tuesday's hosts since going down 1-0 in West London during the final gameweek of the 2022-23 season, edging out Frank's side 2-1 at the Etihad in September as Erling Haaland's brace cancelled out a first-minute Yoane Wissa opener.
Team News
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None of City's four injury victims - Rodri (ACL), Ruben Dias (calf), Oscar Bobb (leg) or John Stones (foot) - will return for the trip to Brentford, which comes just a couple of days after Kyle Walker dropped an exit bombshell.
Guardiola confirmed after Saturday's win over Salford that the right-back had asked for a transfer abroad, so he has seemingly played his final game for the Premier League champions and should not be involved when the champions take on the Bees.
Instead, Rico Lewis will fulfil right-back duties for Tuesday's visitors, who will also recall a plethora of big hitters to the first XI, most likely at the expense of FA Cup stars McAtee, Doku and Grealish.
Meanwhile, Brentford's downturn in form has coincided with a growing injury list, and the Bees still cannot call upon Josh Dasilva (knee), Ethan Pinnock (thigh), Kristoffer Ajer (ankle), Ben Mee (unspecified), Aaron Hickey (thigh), Igor Thiago (knee), Gustavo Nunes (back) or Ryan Trevitt (Achilles).
However, there was one small victory for Brentford to take from their loss to Plymouth, where left-back Rico Henry made his first appearance in a staggering 16 months, lasting just over an hour on his comeback game from a severe knee injury.
Keane Lewis-Potter - fresh from signing a new contract - should offer Henry some respite this week, though, while home specialists Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo will also return; the pair have scored 17 of Brentford's 27 Premier League home goals between them this season.
Brentford possible starting lineup:
Flekken; Roerslev, Van den Berg, Collins, Lewis-Potter; Norgaard, Janelt, Damsgaard; Mbeumo, Wissa, Schade
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ortega; Lewis, Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol; Kovacic; Foden, Silva, De Bruyne, Savinho; Haaland
We say: Brentford 1-3 Manchester City
No team in the Premier League has lost more games after scoring first than Brentford this season (five), while Man City have won more matches after going behind (four) than any of their top-flight rivals.
As such, even if Frank's men can repeat their one-minute Wissa trick from September's head-to-head, the outcome should be the same, as the born-again champions continue on their upward path.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
