Manchester City vs Brentford (Carabao Cup): Match Preview, Team News, Head To Head, How To Watch | OneFootball

Manchester City turn attentions to a Carabao Cup quarter-final tie against Brentford after a 0-3 win in South London over Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday.  

City got their revenge on the Eagles after last season’s FA Cup final, with an Erling Haaland brace and a trademark 20-yard pile-driver from Phil Foden being enough to come away from Selhurst Park with three points.

The win saw Pep Guardiola’s side move back to within two points of league leaders Arsenal, following the Gunners’ dramatic 2-1 win over bottom-placed side Wolves on Saturday evening.

City reached the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup for the 22nd time after beating Swansea 1-3 in South Wales six weeks ago. The Blues survived a scare after the hosts took the lead with 12 minutes played, as Jeremy Doku equalised six minutes before half-time and took the lead later in the contest through a Sergio Aguero-esque near-post finish from Omar Marmoush.

The Cityzens faced Huddersfield Town in the third round, sinking the Terriers with a 0-2 win, and have now also won their last five matches in all competitions. City have missed out on the quarter-finals of the competition for the last two years with defeats to Tottenham and Newcastle. 

Manchester City also their last quarter-final tie 2-0 away defeat to Southampton in the 2022/23 treble-winning season – the only competition that they failed to win that year.

As for Brentford, Keith Andrews’ side reached this stage of the competition with a 0-5 away win over Grimsby in the fourth round, who most notably defeated Manchester United on penalties in the second round. 

The Bees have beaten two Premier League sides en route to the quarters, with a 2-0 win over Bournemouth in the second round, and a penalty shoot-out win against Aston Villa in the third round.  

Brentford have now also qualified for the quarter-finals for the second year in a row and will be looking to equal their best-ever performance in the tournament when they reached the semi-finals in 2021.

Here is everything you need to know ahead of Manchester City’s clash against Brentford in the last-eight of this season’s Carabao Cup!

Match Details

Manchester City against Brentford will take place at 19:30 (GMT) on Wednesday 17th December at the Etihad Stadium.

Match Officials

Referee Sam Barrott will take charge of the match on Wednesday night, having taken charge of 18 games across all competitions so far this campaign, showing a total of 76 yellow cards and one red card in the process.

There will be no VAR in use for the quarter-final tie.

You can check out the full list of match officials below!

Team News

Manchester City now have Jeremy Doku ruled out for between two and three weeks with an injury having not travelled to Selhurst Park on Sunday, while Pep Guardiola has set the away match to Sunderland on New Years’ Day as a potential return date for the Belgian.  

John Stones (thigh) and Rodri (hamstring) also remain sidelined, while Mateo Kovacic (ankle) will be ruled out until at least February following surgery earlier in Autumn.

Omar Marmoush and Rayan Ait-Nouri have now both joined up with Egypt and Algeria respectively for their upcoming African Cup of Nations campaigns. The pair could be unavailable for just over a month.

As for the visitors, Keith Andrews has confirmed that Reiss Nelson will be absent from the trip due to injury, while Dango Outtarra and Frank Onyeka have both headed to the African Cup of Nations with Burkina Faso and Nigeria respectively.

Press Conference Quotes

Pep Guardiola on James Trafford: “He’s top! An incredible keeper! Unfortunately, Gigio [Donnarumma] is first keeper, but he’s incredible. I know the position of keeper is so special… But of course, he’s with us, he’ll be with us this season, and after we’ll see what happens.”

On whether Man City can win the Carabao Cup this season: “Well, we lost now Rayan [Ait-Nouri] and Omar [Marmoush to AFCON]. We have some injuries like John [Stones], Rodri still is not there. So we’ll see, but of course we want [to take] the step to get [into] the semi-finals.”

On team selection for the match with Saturday’s Premier League clash against West Ham in mind: “James [Trafford] is going to play, all the players that didn’t play recently are going to play plus some that played [vs Crystal Palace], and of course some from the Academy because after three days we have West Ham.

“I’m not saying it’s priority – it’s getting to the semi-final of the Carabao Cup – but normally when we achieve it it’s because we have all the squad, no injuries, we can rotate, team is good, and after we got to the last stages. “But, when you’re one game away from the semi-finals in a competition, if you can take it, take it! Because you never know when it’s coming back.”

Head To Head

Manchester City and Brentford have already faced each other once this season in a game that ended in a tight 0-1 away win for Pep Guardiola’s outfit thanks to an early goal from Erling Haaland.

The matches between the two sides in the Premier League are always tight, with none of the games being won by more than two goals. Four out of the nine matches played in the Premier League have ended 1-0, with City seeing the better side of that result on three occasions. 

Phil Foden always seems to shine in this fixture, and the England international has scored seven goals against the Bees so far.  

The last meeting between these two clubs at the Etihad Stadium was over a year ago, with Manchester City picking up a 2-1 win after going behind in the game after just 22 seconds.  

Statistics

Manchester City have scored 3+ goals in their last four Premier League outings. The last time they achieved the feat was back in April 2024. 

Erling Haaland (17) and Brentford striker Igor Thiago (11) are the only players to reach double figures in the Premier League this season. 

Erling Haaland leads the Premier League for shots (57) and shots on target (31) while generating more expected goals (xG) per 90 (0.95) than any other player in the division. 

Only Thiago (31.83%) has a higher conversion rate than Erling Haaland (28.81%) in the Premier League this season. 

Manchester City have won four of the last five meetings between these two clubs. 

It will be the first League Cup meeting between Manchester City and Brentford since 1989, when the former won 4-1 at Maine Road. 

How To Watch

Viewers in the United Kingdom will be able to watch live on Sky Sports Main Event.

Viewers in the United States will be able to watch on Paramount+. 

A full list of global TV listings can be found here!

City Xtra will have full live coverage available on X, Facebook and Instagram throughout the matchday, with content also on cityxtra.co.uk!