Man City v Brentford – Preview, Predictions and Best Bets

City have won five straight matches and beat the Bees 1-0 in October. Brentford have avoided defeat in three of their last seven matches vs City.

Match: Man City v Brentford
When: Wednesday, 17 Dec 2025

Man City Form

City have won five matches in a row, after a couple of shock losses. They lost 2-1 away at Newcastle and were beaten 2-0 at home by Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League. A 3-2 home win vs Leeds with 3.10 xG was followed by four more victories.

Man City won 5-4 at Fulham as they nearly let a 5-1 lead slip. They beat Sunderland 3-0 and beat Real Madrid 2-1 away in Spain. On Sunday, they won 3-0 at Crystal Palace despite being outshot 16-7.

Man City Team News

City will rotate their team heavily in this one. Pep Guardiola has fewer options due to injuries and AFCON call-ups. Mateo Kovacic and Rodri are out injured and the match comes too soon for John Stones.

Rayan Ait-Nouri and Omar Marmoush are away on international duty. Jeremy Doku is injured for the next two weeks. Savinho, Rico Lewis, Nathan Ake and Oscar Bobb are all expected to start.

Man City Motivation

Man City take this competition seriously. They will play to win in 90 minutes and avoid extra time.

City host West Ham on Saturday. That match is the priority, but they will rotate their XI and look to attack Brentford here.

Brentford Form

The Bees have improved of late, prior to a three-match winless streak amid tough fixtures. A 2-0 win at West Ham and a 3-2 home win over Liverpool preceded a 5-0 win over Grimsby in the Carabao Cup. A 2-0 loss at Crystal Palace followed.

Brentford secured a 3-1 home victory over ten-man Newcastle but lost 2-1 at Brighton. A 3-1 home win over Burnley saw two late goals. They’re winless in three matches since then, losing 2-0 at both Arsenal and Tottenham. They drew 1-1 at home to Leeds on Sunday as they were outshot 18-7.

Brentford Team News

Fabio Carvalho is injured long-term and won’t play again this season. Antoni Milambo is in the same boat. Reiss Nelson can’t face his parent club and Josh Dasilva will also play no part.

Coach Keith Andrews could name an unchanged XI. Aaron Hickey is set to get the nod at left back over Rico Lewis. The rest of the side picks itself.

Brentford Motivation

Fabio Carvalho is out with a long-term injury. Antoni Milambo is another absentee. Reiss Nelson and Josh Dasilva are out, but Kevin Schade returns from suspension.

Coach Keith Andrews is without Frank Onyeka and Dango Ouattara due to AFCON duties. Mikkel Damsgaard is set to return to starting XI.                 

Key Stats

• Man City have won their last 5 matches (16 goals scored)
• Man City’s Haaland has scored 37 goals in his last 28 matches for club and country
• Brentford’s Igor Thiago has scored 12 goals this season (5 away from home)
• Brentford have lost their last 4 away matches (1 goal scored, three 2-0 scores)

Verdict

City should win this match in 90 minutes, but it depends on how much they rotate. Backing a win to zero looks like the best bet.

Best Bet: Man City win to zero at 2.65

Goalscorer Tip: Erling Haaland to score anytime at 1.57

Correct score tip: Man City 2-0 Brentford at 6.50

Goalscorer Tips: Mbeumo to score anytime at 2.25 or Mount at 3.70