Brentford Brentford

Man City Manchester City

WHEN AND WHERE

We travel to the Gtech Community Stadium in the Premier League on Sunday 05 October, with the game scheduled for kick-off at 16:30 (UK).

The game will be shown live in the UK on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Ultra HD, Sky GO and NOW TV.

You can also keep across all of the action via mancity.com and the official app, as well as the key moments on X/Twitter: @ManCity.

Supporters living around the world can find out how they can tune in via our global listings, courtesy of livesoccertv.com.

Teams

CITY XI: Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias (C), Gvardiol, O’Reilly, Rodrigo, Reijnders, Bobb, Foden, Savinho, Haaland

Subs: Trafford, Stones, Ake, Kovacic, Cherki, Doku, Nico, Bernardo, Lewis

BRENTFORD XI: Kelleher, Kayode, van den Berg, Collins (C), Ajer, Hickey, Henderson, Yarmoliuk, Damsgaard, Schade, Thiago

Subs: Valdimarsson, Henry, Pinnock, Jensen, Carvalho, Onyeka, Ouattara, Lewis-Potter, Janelt

Next Fixture

All fixtures

Sun 05 Oct

Premier League

Brentford

16:30

BST

Man City

OPPOSING MANAGER - KEITH ANDREWS

Andrews played for the likes of Wolves and Blackburn Rovers in a well-established 16-year playing career, and introduced himself into the coaching world with assistant manager roles at MK Dons and the Republic of Ireland.

The former midfielder was then part of the Bees’ staff as a set-piece coach since July 2024 and after the departure of Thomas Frank in the summer to Tottenham Hotspur, Andrews was promoted to head coach and he has made a blistering start in the role.

The 45-year-old has already masterminded victories over Manchester United and Aston Villa in the Premier League, whilst also holding Chelsea to a draw, with all three standout results coming at home.

Andrews mixes his system up, usually hovering between a 5-3-2 and a 4-2-3-1 formation in their opening six league fixtures, but there is plenty of emphasis on fast counter attacks and efficient set-pieces, which City will need to be prepared for.

DANGER MEN

After losing last season’s deadly duo of Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbuemo, the burden of scoring goals has fallen on the shoulders of striker Igor Thiago, who has taken the pressure in his stride.

The physical No.9 is only second to Erling Haaland in the goalscoring charts in the league this term, with four goals in six games, including a brace last weekend against Manchester United.

The other man to keep an eye on is England international Jordan Henderson, who has slotted into the Bees’ midfield seamlessly after joining in the summer.

The former Liverpool man’s wide passing range has been on display, producing two fantastic assists from deep in midfield already this season, so his efficient switch of play and direct ball behind the back four will need to be nullified by City.

PEP GUARDIOLA PREVIEW

In his prematch news conference, the boss said he believes the side are improving after six games unbeaten.

“The thing that makes me happy is how we can improve,” he said. “I love that feeling, the feeling that I think we can do better. This is the feeling I like as a manager, otherwise when it’s done and after, the margin to improve…

“The improvement can be better, reading what the opponent does, spaces to attack, the feeling we’re creating again, the tempo and pace that’s really good and attack more fluid and more consistently, we can do some movements that we can do better, and I love that.

“Yeah of course, [you can improve] but when you win one game and then another one it helps but when you win a game, then players go to the national team or something, you have time to reflect, visualise and see what happens.”

PREVIOUS MEETING

In our last trip to the Gtech back in January, the Blues looked set for three points after Phil Foden’s double, but goals from Wissa and Norgaard in the final 15 minutes snatched an unlikely point for the home side.

Match Report

Late Haaland brace rounds off five-star victory over Burnley

LAST TIME OUT

We cruised to a 5-1 Premier League victory over Burnley last weekend at the Etihad Stadium, with Erling Haaland grabbing a double, along with a brace of own goals from Maxime Esteve and a Matheus Nunes strike.

We were also in midweek UEFA Champions League action, where Haaland’s double was not enough as AS Monaco held us to an entertaining 2-2 draw in France.

As for Brentford, they come into the encounter after a morale-boosting 3-1 victory over Manchester United, with a Thiago brace and Mathias Jensen screamer doing the damage for the Bees.

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Darren England

Assistants: Scott Ledger, Nick Greenhalgh

Fourth official: Andy Madley

VAR: Paul Howard

Assistant VAR: Alex Chilowicz

GLOBAL TV LISTINGS

Supporters around the world can find out how to tune in to watch the match live by clicking here, courtesy of livesoccertv.com.

(Listings correct as of Wednesday 1 October)