90min

Man City predicted lineup vs Brentford - Premier League

By Grey Whitebloom

Pep Guardiola is the son of bricklayer
Pep Guardiola is the son of bricklayer / Shaun Botterill/GettyImages
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Manchester City welcome Brentford to the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League on Saturday lunchtime.

Pep Guardiola's side have romped to 16 consecutive victories on home turf across all competitions in a sequence stretching back to April. However, this is still short of the 20 they accrued during the 2017/18 campaign.

Here's the XI Guardiola may deploy to edge one win closer to that centurion vintage.

Man City predicted lineup vs Brentford (4-3-3)

Erling Haaland
Erling Haaland came off the bench to score a 95th-minute, match-winning penalty last weekend / Catherine Ivill/GettyImages

GK: Ederson - The 29-year-old keeper wasn't alive when Brentford last scored a goal against City courtesy of Eddie May in a 1989 League Cup defeat.

RB: John Stones - After making exactly 200 Premier League appearances without a single assist, Stones has created two goals in his last six top-flight outings.

CB: Manuel Akanji - The crown tattoo on Akanji's arm fits well with his middle name Obafemi, which means: “The one who is loved by the king."

CB: Nathan Ake - After the lockdown-interrupted 2019/20 campaign - during which Ake taught himself how to play the piano - the Dutch international joined City.

LB: Joao Cancelo - If Cancelo can make it to half-time without getting sent off it will be a more successful appearance than his last Etihad outing.

CM: Kevin De Bruyne - City's creator-in-chief surpassed club icon David Silva (92) in the Premier League's all-time assists charts this season.

CM: Rodri - The return to fitness of Kalvin Phillips should afford Rodri some much-needed respite but that specific rotation may have to wait until after the World Cup.

CM: Bernardo Silva - The only superstition Bernardo has before a match is getting himself and Riyad Mahrez - one of his closest friends in the squad - a coffee an hour ahead of kick-off.

RW: Riyad Mahrez - City's top scorer across all competitions last season notched just his fourth of the campaign in midweek.

ST: Erling Haaland - "About time," was the brief response Alfie Haaland tweeted after his son matched his career tally of Premier League goals (18) against Fulham last weekend.

LW: Phil Foden - After starting the club's first ten Premier League matches - scoring six goals and assisting another three - Foden has been benched for the past three. Perhaps the latest spin of Pep roulette may land on blue 47 this weekend.

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