Manchester City host Brentford on Tuesday as Pep Guardiola’s side have the chance to cut Liverpool’s lead at the top of the table to just one point.
But then Liverpool play on Wednesday against Luton and can regain a four point lead, albeit having played a game more. This is all getting very serious in the title race now.
WATCH MANCHESTER CITY v BRENTFORD LIVE
City lost the chance to control their own destiny in the title race as they drew 1-1 at home to Chelsea on Saturday as they huffed and puffed but Erling Haaland, of all people, missed three glorious chances and Guardiola’s side couldn’t win it late on after dominating the second half. The first half showcased City’s main weakness: being caught out on the counter.
Brentford are very good at playing direct on the counter and although they gave Liverpool problems early on on Saturday, they lost 4-1 as Mohamed Salah came off the bench an inspired injury-hit Liverpool to victory. The Bees are still looking nervously over their shoulders towards the relegation zone and anything from this trip to City will be a bonus.
How to watch Manchester City vs Brentford live, stream link and start time
Kick off: 2:30pm ET Tuesday (February 20)
TV Channel: USA Network
Online: Stream via NBC.com
Manchester City focus, team news
Guardiola will no doubt rotate with Bernardo Silva, John Stones, Matheus Nunes and Mateo Kovacic all potentially coming into the starting lineup. Kevin de Bruyne was excellent against Chelsea at the weekend and found Haaland on multiple occasions and it’s all about how quickly the latter can get over those big, and very uncharacteristic, misses.
OUT: Jack Grealish (groin), Josk Gvardiol (ankle)
Brentford focus, team news
The Bees made several huge defensive mistakes against Liverpool on Saturday and that’s why they lost. Aside from that they were in the game and created plenty of chances as Neal Maupay and Ivan Toney are extremely dangerous. Onyeka and Wissa could start after their return from AFCON duty, while defensively Thomas Frank has very few options as injuries continue to pile up.
OUT: Bryan Mbeumo (ankle), Rico Henry (torn ACL – out for season), Kevin Schade (adductor), Aaron Hickey (hamstring), Josh Dasilva (torn ACL – out for season), Ethan Pinnock (ankle)
