Man City’s aim when they play Brentford is to get back to winning ways. Tuesday night, as both teams attempt to move up the Premier League standings, Pep Guardiola will welcome the Bees to the Etihad Stadium.
While Thomas Frank will be trying to get himself out of a relegation battle, the defending champions will be keen to pass Arsenal and cut Liverpool’s lead at the top of the table. The Blues would have easily won if Rodri hadn’t diverted a late goal past Djordje Petrovic to hold Chelsea to a 1-1 draw over the weekend.
Currently, Brentford is still in shock following Liverpool’s 4-1 demolition of them at the G-tech Community Stadium. A few weeks ago, in west London, Guardiola and Frank faced off against Phil Foden, who scored an incredible hat-trick.
With the title battle gaining momentum, City will be hoping for a similar showing on Tuesday night, but the stakes are considerably higher. That being said, here are some potential lineup adjustments that Guardiola might make, according to the Manchester Evening News.
Goalkeeper
Between the sticks, Ederson maintains his position. For the Premier League champions this season, the 30-year-old goalkeeper has been as dependable as ever, and he will continue to be essential for many years to come. Ivan Toney will undoubtedly have his job cut out for him since he is operating at full capacity.
Defense
Guardiola said that Manuel Akanji would need a few weeks to regain his best form after the Swiss player was added back into the starting lineup against Chelsea over the weekend. On Tuesday night, the City manager might be tempted to throw John Stones back into the deep end after finding it difficult to play in midfield with Rodri.
Midfield
Even though Julian Alvarez did well for City in a role that is a little unfamiliar to him, he didn’t seem to live up to expectations against Chelsea. Soon after the hour, Bernardo Silva took the place of the Argentina international; later in the second half, the treble winners found an equalizer.
Of course, Silva might start in place of Alvarez against Brentford, but Guardiola might rather have the Portuguese star on the wing and start Mateo Kovacic or Matheus Nunes next to Kevin De Bruyne. Regarding Rodri, he ought to appear among the first names on the roster.
Attack
As noted above in summary, Silva might be used on the wing against Brentford because Jeremy Doku didn’t perform as well against Malo Gusto as Guardiola had planned. While the Belgian is undoubtedly a fantastic option for City, given how difficult it was for them to break down Chelsea, it’s possible that they would rather have Foden or the former Monaco player play “the Jack Grealish role” on the left.
Starting Lineup: Ederson; Nathan Ake, John Stones, Ruben Dias, Kyle Walker; Rodri; Mateo Kovacic, Kevin De Bruyne; Phil Foden, Erling Haaland, Bernardo Silva.
