Brentford vs. Man City: Pep Guardiola sent “problems” warning as “confident” prediction is made for Premier League clash

Brentford have the personnel and implement a philosophy that will “always cause Manchester City problems”, Citizens expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has told Sports Mole ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash at the Gtech Community Stadium.

Pep Guardiola’s side head to the capital after playing out a 2-2 draw with Monaco in the Champions League on Wednesday night, with a late controversial penalty denying them all three points.

Nevertheless, Man City have put together a six-game unbeaten run in all competitions and have picked up seven points from their last nine available in the Premier League, most recently thrashing Burnley by a 5-1 scoreline at the Etihad Stadium last weekend.

McInerney is "pretty confident" that the Citizens will get the job done against Brentford this weekend, but Guardiola and co have dropped points in two of their last three visits to the Gtech and they have been warned that the Bees have the credentials to put a sting in their tail once again.

Brentford, who sit just three points behind Man City in the Premier League table, are looking to claim back-to-back home wins against Manchester-based opposition this season after deservedly beating Man United 3-1 last weekend.

‘Brentford are always a side that will cause Man City problems’

“I think City will win this [but] Brentford are a good side; of course they beat Man United at the weekend, which I enjoyed immensely, and they've still got an awful lot of quality and structure and identity,” McInerney told Sports Mole.

“Of course they've lost an awful lot of players, a lot of quality (in the summer), particularly their forward line and [Christian] Norgaard in midfield as well. They've lost some key parts of their whole identity of what made them such a formidable Premier League side at times, but they've still got quality there.

“[Mikkel] Damsgaard, [Dango] Ouattara out wide, [Kevin] Schade, and [Jordan] Henderson in midfield has been a decent signing for them. [Sepp] Van den Berg, [Caoimhin] Kelleher in goal has been decent for them as well, [Igor] Thiago scoring a couple of goals at the weekend against United will be a massive boost for them. They are a side that knows who they are.

“Keith Andrews looks like a decent manager. He's not going to change the world for them or anything like that, and he's maybe not Thomas Frank, but he understands the assignment at least. They've had a reasonably rough start, but they're always a side that will cause Manchester City problems because of the way they play, with the pace out wide, their skill and their organisation.

“They are the epitome of home the Premier League has changed in my humble opinion, in terms of the ceiling being raised in terms of the demands, the expectations of how much a team has to run. Brentford are a great example of that.

Man City backed to ‘grind out a win’ at Brentford

“They will always give a side like Man City problems, who want to pass the ball around and want to keep it, because they've been built as the mirror image of that identity. It's going to be difficult, [but] I do look at City right now and I feel in a place where I trust these players.

“City are in a place right now where - with the quality we've got with [Jeremy] Doku and [Erling] Haaland, secure in goal with [Gianluigi] Donnarumma, a good partnership [in defence between Josko] Gvardiol and [Ruben] Dias - I feel pretty confident this City side can grind out a win.

“It might not be sensational football without Rodri there because he nits it all together, but there is [still] quality there. [Phil] Foden and Doku are in incredible form and Haaland is the best striker in the league. I'm confident City could go there and win.”

Considering that Abdukodir Khusanov will miss Sunday’s match through injury, McInerney would not be too surprised to see Man City’s backline sit a little deeper, as they did in a 1-1 draw with Arsenal last month, to reduce the risk of being caught on the counter-attack against Brentford.

Asked if City will need to be wary of Brentford playing long balls over their defence, McInerney said: “Absolutely. Once again, no pace of Khusanov will be a massive blow [in defence] because he's sort of a cheat code in shutting down [counter-attacks].

Man City win would be a “really positive step in the right direction”

“Against Arsenal, City were quite willing to sit a bit deeper to allow for that, and I think that pragmatic side of Guardiola is shining through here. I do think they'll allow for that and accept that. We haven't got the recovery pace, though [Matheus] Nunes is good defensively in terms of pace - he's just not an alert as Khusanov.

“I think City will probably just sit a bit deeper and accept that if we can't keep the ball as well as we used to, there's a higher chance of a turnover. Away at Brentford, you have to make some accommodations for that and I think that's one of them.”

Discussing the importance of Sunday’s game from a Man City perspective, McInerney added: “It's a huge this game for Man City, because I don't think you ever want to lose before an international break.

“It sets a really negative mindset going into it. Of course it would be washed away by two weeks international football, but I think where the City side are right now, it'd be a really positive step in the right direction for City to head into international break with that great run of form continuing.”

McInerney has also given his overall prediction for this weekend’s contest, stating which team he believes will prevail from a five-goal thriller at the Gtech.

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