Brentford v Manchester City: Premier League – live

Brentford were one of just four teams to beat Manchester City in the Premier League last season, and the only team to do the double over them. Kyle Walker is out on the pitch in west London talking about those City defeats.

The game they beat us at home, that was just before the World Cup, that was a freak result. And when they beat us here [at the Gtech Community Stadium], that was just before the Champions League final. It’s not a reference for tonight’s game.

Remember, Girona are one of 13 football clubs in the ‘City Football Group’, so that deal is very much in-house. You can find out more about the group here …

… and Sid Lowe wrote about Girona back in November.

Breaking news: a City-based transfer update for you. Sávio has been nothing short of sensational this season for Girona, who are second in La Liga. Nobody has more league assists in Spain, and he’s also top of the charts for successful dribbles, ahead of Isco, Rodrygo, Vini Jr, etc.

This is interesting. Not only because stand-in Sky pundit Michail Antonio is wearing a beret, but also because Tottenham’s Micky van de Ven has been clocked as being the fastest footballer in the Premier League this season. Anyone that saw some of his recovery runs in the 2-2 draw with Everton at the weekend will not be surprised at that stat, just edging out Luton’s Chiedozie Ogbene (who also tore Newcastle’s Dan Burn to shreds on Saturday on the right wing). There are, however a couple of surprising names. Antonio is 41st, although the Jamaica international hasn’t been fully fit this season.

Not sure if this is a positive sign or a reminder of Haaland’s dominance since he came into the Premier League just 18 months ago:

Brentford are the only one of the 21 Premier League sides that Haaland has faced but not scored against.

De Bruyne and Haaland do start for City, making this the strongest Guardiola line-up since the last time they were both in the City starting XI on 11 August 2023 at Burnley (a 3-0 win at Burnley in which Haaland bagged two goals). It was also the game that De Bruyne suffered his injury that kept him out until January.

Brentford: Flekken, Collins, Pinnock, Mee, Roerslev, Jensen, Norgaard, Janelt, Reguilon, Toney, Maupay.
Subs: Jorgensen, Ajer, Strakosha, Lewis-Potter, Damsgaard, Baptiste, Yarmolyuk, Brierley, Fredrick.

Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Dias, Ake, Gvardiol, Rodri, Foden, Alvarez, De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Haaland.
Subs: Stones, Kovacic, Grealish, Doku, Ortega, Akanji, Matheus Luiz, Bobb, Lewis.

Referee: Jarred Gillett (Australia)

With the closing of the January transfer window, February’s Champions League knockout ties and a title race that is coming nicely to the boil, it feels that we have almost entered the Business End™ of the season.

Liverpool’s defeat to Arsenal on Sunday feels like something of a watershed, a result that has ramifications for all three title challengers, with some footy nerds/stats gurus estimating that the Gunners’s 3-1 win at the Emirates actually did more for City’s chances of clinching the Premier League trophy than it did for Arsenal.

Of course, all of those permutations and predictions only mean anything if City do what they are expected to do. Which is, of course, continue win loads of football matches, starting with tonight at Brentford.

Pep Guardiola’s side are already on rather a good run, winning 10 of the last 11 in all competitions, and have a couple of follically-blessed blokes back from injury, so one would imagine they will be fine with Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland back in the starting XI against a Brentford side that have lost eight (and won just two) of the last 12.

But then, this is football match, not an AI algorithm. Almost anything could happen. And most of us are here to find out if something unexpected happens.

Kick-off: 8pm GMT.