The league leaders, Manchester City are set to host exciting Brentford on Wednesday night. The premier league returns on our TV sets after the international break, as Man City will look to run away from a chasing Liverpool.
City is 9 points clear of the second-placed Liverpool who has a game in hand. Liverpool will look to cut down the margin, while Manchester city’s agenda would be to widen it.
In this task the next enemy is Brentford.
Brentford who was promoted only this season has been playing good football. They are placed 14th on the table and despite that fact, their football has been impressive and they should not be underestimated.
How will they respond to the challenge of playing Man City at home, only time will tell. However, in anticipation, this match has the potential to be a good one.
History:
If Manchester City wins on Wednesday, they will have completed their first league double over Brentford since the 1936-37 season. Brentford hasn’t played Manchester City since a 4-1 League Cup defeat at Maine Road in 1989.
Manchester City has won the reverse fixture 1-0 at the Brentford Community Stadium in the first half of the season. Historically Manchester City has faced the Bees 14 times in the past, winning 8 times and drawing once.
Their 1-0 victory at Brentford was the first premier league meeting between these two sides.
Form:
Manchester City has been in its usual scintillating form. Their latest affair was the 4-1 thumping of Fulham in the FA Cup fourth-round tie. Manchester City is top of the table and is looking at their devasting best. Although they dropped points in their last premier league game before the international break. They drew 1-1 playing away from home at the Saints, for what otherwise has been an exceptional season for them so far.
This city side would love to bounce back heading into this one, as they have won 5 of their last 6 games, with the only draw coming against Southampton as mentioned before.
The Bees on the other hand despite starting the season wonderfully, have lost a little steam in their season. Heading into this one the London-based club has lost 5 times in a row with their last victory coming on 8th January against Port Vale in the FA Cup 3rd round.
Trivia:
Following a 1-0 victory against Brentford earlier this season, Manchester City is aiming for their first league double over the Bees since 1936-37, when they won their first top-flight title.
Brentford’s last visit to Manchester City in any tournament was in the League Cup in October 1989, when they were defeated 4-1 at Maine Road by Steve Perryman.
Manchester City has won each of their last 17 Premier League games played on Wednesdays.
Prediction:
Brentford is having a good first season after they were back in the premier league. But the task of getting anything positive out of Manchester City at home is a very difficult task. Bigger teams have tried and have failed miserably.
The slope might be too steep for Brentford to climb but this newly promoted side can hope that the optimism which has got them so far till now, can run its charm one more time when they face Manchester City on Wednesday evening.
