Manchester City vs. Brentford Premier League Match Preview

Richard Janvrin Last Updated on May 14, 2026

On Saturday, May 9, Manchester City and Brentford square off. Since the start of this year, Manchester City has lost only two matches, one of which was on January 20, when Rodri received a red card, and they lost 3-1 to Bodo/Glimt.

With that, Manchester City are massive -340 home favorites against Brentford, per FanDuel Sportsbook.

Brentford heads into this game coming off a 3-0 win over West Ham. Over their last seven matches, they’re 1-5-1.

This will be the first time Manchester City and Brentford have faced off since December 17, 2025, in the Quarter-final of the EFL Cup.

All that being said, see my preview and prediction for the match below.

Manchester City Preview

Manchester City enters this match coming off a 3-3 tie against Everton. They scored three goals despite a 1.42 xG, but also allowed three goals while posting a 1.69 xGA. It was certainly one of their worst defensive performances lately, but they’re at home at Etihad Stadium and taking on a Brentford squad that’s coming off a win, but hasn’t done too well other than that lately.

Of course, for Manchester City, it helps to have a player like Haaland who leads the Premier League in goals with 25 and also has seven assists. They also have Semenyo, who’s played 13 matches for them but has scored 15 goals, tied for third-most. His 15 goals have come despite an xG of 12.

Manchester City is dealing with injuries to players such as Ruben Dias, Rodri, and Josko Gvardiol.

Predicted Lineup: Gianluigi Donnarumma, Nico O’Reilly, Abdukodir Khusanov, Marc Guehi, Matheus Nunes, Nico Gonzalez, Bernardo Silva, Jeremy Doku, Ryan Cherki, Antoine Semenyo, Erling Haaland.

Brentford Preview

As for Brentford, they’re 14-9-12 this season with 52 goals, and they’ve allowed 46 goals. Their xGA is 62.58, while their xGA is 49.92. So, they’ve created plenty of opportunities but haven’t capitalized on them. In fact, their xG of 62.58 is eighth in the Premier League.

While Manchester City has Haaland, Brentford has Thiago, who’s second in the Premier League in goals with 22.

One of Brenford’s biggest issues this season has been injuries, as they’re without Fabio Carvalho and Antonio Milambo, and on top of that, they have two questionable players in Jordan Henderson and Rico Henry.

Predicted Lineup: Caoimhin Kelleher, Keane Lewis-Potter, Nathan Collins, Sepp van den Berg, Kristoffer Ajer, Michael Kayode, Yehor Yarmolyuk, Mathias Jensen, Mikkel Damsgaard, Kevin Schade, Igor Thiago.

Manchester City vs. Brentford Prediction

I’ll just say I believe Manchester City gets the win at home, but Brentford, despite the injuries, shouldn’t be underestimated. They’ve played some fairly strong defense, and their offense has shown potential.

There’s some value with a tie here at +490.