Monday Night’s Premier League with Paul Robinson
The former Leeds, Spurs and England keeper can’t see City slipping up against Brentford as they did last season, when the Bees did the double over them.
It’s very different Brentford this season. They're having a surprising season, but not in a good way. Now they've got Ivan Toney back and they got a fantastic result at home against Forest. He's going to have a huge impact. They went to Spurs, played well in the first half, disrupted Spurs but then got outplayed and that’s a worry. Brentford at home haven't been as good as we expected them to be. They've had losses such as the 4-1 against Wolves. They've only won one of their last six.
It's a difficult game for Brentford. They haven't played City this season and now have them twice this month. City just feel a different team after Christmas and the Club World Cup. Haaland, De Bruyne, Doku all back and against Burnley it could have been a lot more but they toyed with them a bit. They got a good win away at Spurs in the cup and the worst thing for everyone else from the outside looking in is that Pep Guardiola has got a totally fit squad to choose from.
Lots of goals for City seems your only betting way in, even if it is Brentford away under the lights. One thing you might look at is that City don't generally keep clean sheets. This season, Brentford at home with Toney back, you can make a case for Brentford scoring. So it’s City with both teams to score and it's a case of how many for City.
As I've said before with City, I like the card market for the teams who are playing against City, especially if Jack Grealish plays. In fact, whether it's Foden, Grealish or Doku! If you look at the team selection, look who's playing full back for Brentford! Add that in and you do eventually get a little bit of value out of Manchester City, who haven’t been hitting fives and sixes…yet.