Man City team news vs Brentford and predicted lineup | OneFootball

The Premier League weekend wraps up in west London on Sunday afternoon as Manchester City head to the Gtech Community Stadium to face Brentford.

The Citizens were held to a 2-2 draw in the Champions League in midweek as Monaco equalised late on courtesy of an Eric Dier penalty, but they will be eager to respond positively when they take on the Bees in front of the Sky Sports cameras. The match kicks off at 4.30pm.

Man City predicted lineup vs Brentford

Man City (4-2-3-1): Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Gonzalez, Reijnders; Silva, Foden, Savinho; Haaland.

Pep Guardiola is attempting to balance his team’s European commitments with a packed domestic schedule, and the Spanish tactician could be tempted into making a few changes for this weekend’s trip to London.

Man City team news vs Brentford

Man City have no fresh injury concerns following the trip to Monaco, although Rayan Cherki, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Omar Marmoush and Abdukodir Khusanov are all still sidelined ahead of Sunday’s clash.

Mateo Kovacic is back in training, but the Croat may not be risked until after the international break.

Guardiola is expected to make one tweak to his backline with Matheus Nunes primed to come in for John Stones at right-back. Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol should continue at the heart of the defence, and Gianluigi Donnarumma has made the No.1 shirt his own.

Changes of personnel can be expected in midfield. Rodri could be rested in an attempt to manage his workload, with Nico Gonzalez coming in to sit alongside Tijjani Reijnders, while Savinho is pushing to take Jeremy Doku’s spot on the left flank.

As ever, Erling Haaland will provide the focal point for the Citizens’ attack and Phil Foden, overlooked for an England call-up despite his strong recent form, should sit in behind the Norwegian.

Guardiola looking to keep Rodri fresh

Manchester City struggled to cope without Rodri last season after the Spanish midfielder suffered an ACL injury that kept him out for the vast majority of the campaign, and it looks as if Pep Guardiola is keen to avoid a repeat spell on the sidelines this time around.

Guardiola expressed concern for Rodri’s fitness prior to the 2-2 draw against Monaco, in which he was on the pitch for more than an hour before being replaced by Nico Gonzalez.

The City boss has again voiced a desire to manage Rodri’s fitness in recent days, hinting that Gonzalez could start for the Citizens against Brentford, just as he did in last week’s 5-1 Premier League win over Burnley.

“He [Rodri] made an incredible effort against United, Napoli and Arsenal. I try to protect my players.” Guardiola told reporters on Friday.

“Rodri cannot play 90 minutes for many games and Nico played really good against Burnley. We need him because Kova [Mateo Kovacic] is not ready and Rodri cannot sustain the rhythm for games,” he added.

Rodri has also been named in Spain’s squad for next week’s World Cup qualifiers against Georgia and Bulgaria, and Guardiola will undoubtedly be hoping that Luis de la Fuente will go easy on his midfield star.