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Two sides at opposite sides of the table face off in West London, with 15th place Brentford hosting second place Manchester City at the Brentford Community Stadium.
Having lost six of their last seven Premier League games, things don't get much easier for The Bees as they welcome a Manchester City side who have won eight games in a row in all competitions and are welcoming back the fully fit duo of Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland.
Read below as I preview Monday night's match, with my match preview and predictions, as well as a best bet.
After a historic ninth placed finish last season, Brentford have stagnated this campaign, currently sitting 15th, just four points clear of the relegation zone.
Brentford have now lost six of their last seven matches in the Premier League, dropping them right into a relegation battle. A worrying trend in their games is their inability to hold onto leads. Away at Brighton, a Bryan Mbeumo penalty put the Bees in the lead, before they conceded four minutes later. Teen full-back compounded their misery, scoring a second half winner.
Two games later, a Keane Lewis-Potter goal on the stroke of half time put Brentford 1-0 up at half time. However, Villa turned the game round in the second half. Frank's side have also thrown away leads in recent games against Crystal Palace and Tottenham.
The return of the suspended Ivan Toney has bolstered the Bees attack, with Toney scoring in both games - the 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest and the 3-2 loss to Tottenham.
Manchester City were arguably suffering from their treble hangover, starting the season slowly. However, as is standard for a Pep Guardiola side, the Citizens have been motoring, winning eight in a row in all competitions.
Top goalscorer Erling Haaland and creative maestro Kevin De Bruyne are now back in action too, bolstering an already potent squad.
City are five points off leaders Liverpool with a game in hand. With Liverpool traveling to the Emirates on the Sunday, Guardiola will be hoping to move within touching distance of the Reds by Monday night.
Interestingly, Brentford were the only team to complete the double over Manchester City last season. A 98th minute Ivan Toney goal secured his brace and a famous 2-1 smash-and-grab win for the Bees at the Etihad, before an 85th minute Ethan Pinnock goal saw Brentford win 1-0 in front of their own fans on the last game of last season.
Before this, the only previous meetings this century had been the season before, in which City won 0-1 and 2-0.
As the sides have only met four times this century, it is hard to gauge too many historic statistical highlights. One thing that stands out is the lack of goals and Manchester City cards.
Expectedly, Manchester City are clear favourites with the bookies, with 1.40 widely available. While these odds are way too short to back as a single, an alternative angle can be added to make a value single.
Despite boasting the third best defensive record in the league, Manchester City have still looked defensively fragile at times. They've only kept two clean sheets in 11 Premier League away days - 3-0 wins at Burnley and Manchester United. On top of this, all three Champions League away games saw City win and concede.
City have actually accumulated more xG away (24.9) than at home (16.6) this season. A leading factor in this could be their away games are more open, compared to having to break down a low block at the Etihad.
Their opponents, Brentford, have seen BTTS in 9/11 home games, with the exceptions a 1-0 loss to Arsenal in which Brentford accumulated 1.19 xG and a 3-0 victory over a Burnley side who accumulated 1.14 xG, with Luka Koleosho missing an open goal.
Of Brentford's last eight losses, seven have seen BTTS.
With Brentford scoring in all bar one home game, and their visitors keeping only two away clean sheets in the league, Manchester City to win and BTTS presents real value in my eyes.
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