With three straight wins to start their Premier League season and Erling Haaland moving into familiarly ominous form, there should be little to trouble Manchester City at home against Brentford on Saturday afternoon.
By Ian King
Haaland has now scored two consecutive hat-tricks which have been enough to take City to the top of the Premier League above Liverpool on goals scored, and when he is in this sort of form the likelihood of opponents taking much from the Etihad Stadium feels remote.
But in terms of performances so far this season, Brentford are better positioned than many to take something from even such a daunting challenge. They’ve won two of their three Premier League games so far this season, at home against Crystal Palace and Southampton, while their sole defeat, at Anfield, against Liverpool saw them put up a fairly credible performance from which the win was only secured for the home team with twenty minutes to play.
A further small cloud appeared on the City horizon with news of an injury to Nathan Aké during the Netherlands’ 2-2 Nations League draw with Germany on Tuesday night. Aké went down unchallenged on the verge of half-time with what is understood to be a muscle injury and left the pitch on a stretcher. There has been nothing released to confirm the seriousness of this injury at the time of writing, but it seems highly unlikely that he will be included in the team for this match.
On the flipside, Rodri hasn’t appeared in the League for City yet this season, but started for Spain in their 4-1 win against Switzerland on Sunday and may be in contention for a return to the first team for City too. Kristoffer Ajer could return from a foot problem for Brentford, meanwhile, but Joshua Dasilva, Rico Henry, Igor Thiago and Aaron Hickey all remain out of action.
Brentford’s most encouraging sign ahead of this game comes from the recent history books. It’s only been two seasons since they completed a league double over City, beating them 2-1 at The Etihad in November 2022 and then 1-0 at The Brentford Community Stadium at the end of the following May. City returned the favour by completing a double over the Bees last season, but when you’re facing a team which has won six of the last seven Premier League titles, Brentford may have to take their lucky omens where there can find them.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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