Overview
Erling Haaland was unhappy after Manchester City were held to a 2-2 draw by Monaco in the UEFA Champions League, despite the Norwegian player continuing to show brilliant form with a double.
Haaland has now scored 52 goals in 50 Champions League appearances, at least nine more than any other player in the same number of games.
In addition, with 2 goals against Burnley last weekend, Haaland has scored a total of 11 goals in 8 matches in all competitions this season. Notably, his 8 goals in the Premier League 2025-2026 are double the number of goals of the second-placed players in the scoring list (Antoine Semenyo, Jaidon Anthony and Igor Thiago all have 4 goals).
While Haaland is on track to improve his 2024-2025 record, Man City may need to upgrade their defence if they are to truly compete for the Premier League title.
Pep Guardiola's side will travel to the Gtech Stadium to face Brentford this weekend. And they need to be cautious against a "Bees" who are improving under the leadership of Keith Andrews.
In their most recent start, Brentford beat Manchester United 3-1. They took advantage of mistakes from their opponents with goals from Thiago (double) and Mathias Jensen.
Now, Brentford have the opportunity to become the second team in Premier League history to win the most points against both Manchester clubs in 2 consecutive matches, after Tottenham - the team that did this in January 1996.
The Bees has now won 4 of the last 6 home games in the Premier League (draw 1, lost 1), including 2 victories in 3 matches under Keith Andrews (draw 1). This achievement came after a series of 8 matches that did not win at home under Thomas Frank last season, of which 5 matches they did not score.
Many are concerned about Brentford as they have just lost Frank to Tottenham, along with the departure of key players such as Bryan Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa, Christian Norgaard and Mark Flekken.
However, after initial problems, Andrews helped Brentford return to their familiar face-to-face and efficient playing style. Despite having the fewest shots in the Premier League this season (51), they are still sixth in goals (9), behind only Man City in goal conversion (17.7% to 18.4%).
Man City and Brentford are also the two teams that have scored the most goals from quick counter-attacks this season, each team has 3 goals.
Brentford will need to play effectively if they want to create a surprise, but they have one of the most in-form strikers in the Premier League at the moment, Thiago.
The Brazilian has scored five goals in just six shots on target in all competitions this season. In the Premier League, he has scored four goals from 10 shots, becoming the player with the highest conversion rate of shots among those who have done at least 10 times (40%).
However, Brentford's defense will have to be cautious with Phil Foden, who scored 7 goals against them in the Premier League. Only Brighton (8 goals) have scored more goals than Foden. Notably, 6 of his 7 goals against The Bees were at Gtech Stadium.
Head-to-head record
Man City have lost just one of their four Premier League visits to Brentford (W2 D1). Their only defeat at Gtech came on the final day of the 2022-23 season. At that time, Man City secured the Premier League title and rotated the squad before completing the treble.
That win helped Brentford complete their double against Man City. However, since then, the Bees have not won any of their four Premier League meetings with The Citizens (D1 L3).
Score prediction: Brentford 2-2 Man City
The match between Brentford and Man City takes place at 22:30 on October 5 (Vietnam time).
