English Premier
2026-05-09 - Manchester City vs Brentford
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 9th May 2026 - Kick Off 5:30pm
This game is live on TV
Manchester City
They looked to be doing enough to just hold off the Everton push and move back to within 3 points of Premier League leaders Arsenal, but Manchester City made some huge mistakes to give away three goals in 13 second half minutes. Marc Guehi's error to begin the problems was mind-boggling, but others did the same and Pep Guardiola will be hoping that Jeremy Doku's late equaliser may yet mean something.
Rumours continue to swirl that Guardiola is going to be walking away from the Manchester City manager job at the end of the campaign, but the Spaniard will be trying to encourage his players to keep the faith in the title race. They play before Arsenal this weekend and Manchester City have a 12-3-1 record at the Etihad Stadium as they bid for a victory that will take them to 2 points behind the leaders.
Manchester City's 6 game winning run was ended on Monday, but the late Jeremy Doku goal salvaged a point to make it 7 unbeaten in all competitions. Wins are all that matter at this stage of the season and the side will be trying to do that for a third time in a row at the Etihad Stadium.
Rodri is hoping to play some part, but both Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol are expected to miss out.
Brentford
Departures of long term managers can seriously impact some clubs and there will be many keeping an eye out as to how Manchester City respond if Pep Guardiola does indeed walk away this summer. Optimistic fans will point to the successes Keith Andrews has had with Brentford in the first campaign since Thomas Frank left the club as a reason to believe and supporters of this club are still believing that a place in European Football will be achieved this season.
A thumping win over West Ham United has pushed Brentford into 7th place in the Premier League table and they are just a point behind Bournemouth in what could become an important race. The Bees travel to the North West with a 6-2-9 away record in the Premier League having scored 21 goals and conceded 27 in those matches.
Brentford had not won any of 7 games in all competitions before the win over West Ham United, although the majority of those had been matches that ended in draws. They had not lost any of 7 away games in all competitions in normal time before Brentford were beaten 2-1 at Manchester United at the end of April.
Rico Henry and Jordan Henderson will be hoping to travel with the squad.
Head to Head
Manchester City have been tested by Brentford twice this season but have won by games with a clean sheet- they won 0-1 at the Gtech Community Stadium in the Premier League and beat Brentford 2-0 here on their way to winning the League Cup.
They have now won the last 3 when hosting Brentford in all competitions.
Prediction
While the overwhelming feeling is that Jeremy Doku's goal at Everton is not going to matter so much in the grand scheme of things, Manchester City fans know it does mean the pressure is on Arsenal to win out.
That pressure could all be for nought if Manchester City do not do the same.
Dropping those points at Everton will have hurt, but Manchester City have plenty of experience and you cannot imagine them making the same kind of mistakes as they did on Merseyside on Monday. Defensive mistakes from seasoned internationals will have stung, but Manchester City showed some real determination to earn a point from 3-1 down.
This looks like being another testing match for Pep Guardiola's team.
Brentford have proven to be a stubborn team to beat in recent weeks and they pushed Manchester United all of the way in a 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford to snap the 7 game unbeaten run on their travels. Keith Andrews will believe his team were wasteful on that day and Brentford can counter on Manchester City with pace and quality in the final third.
Being stronger defensively will be the balance they look to find and Manchester City do have enough in the final third to at least pose a question to rivals Arsenal in the title race.
Goal difference may yet to be a factor, but Pep Guardiola will be reminding his players what can happen if they lose focus and a response is expected. They have won 2 games in a row at the Etihad Stadium and the home team can produce a solid result before tuning into the Arsenal game at the London Stadium the following day.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Manchester City 3-1 Brentford
