Brentford vs Man City live: Team news and updates as City bid to capitalise on Liverpool disarray

“It’s us as a club and our team against theirs,” Keith Andrews said.

“It’s about the players and how we can prepare them to go into a really, really tough game against a top, top manager and top players who have world-class ability.

“It’s about how we can nullify that and stop that, as well as cause them real problems.

“Having said that, it’s not lost on me that I’ll be in the opposite dugout to one of the greats.”

“I don’t know many who wouldn’t have taken inspiration from such an innovative manager,” said Brentford manager Keith Andrews in the build-up to today’s game.

“He’s probably been the best manager of the last 15 years, in the modern era; the way he’s coached the game, the way he’s changed the way the game is perceived and played at different clubs and in different countries.

“I’ve come through my coaching journey and coaching courses, and his name was pretty prevalent throughout those. To say I have ultimate respect for him is an understatement.”

Pep Guardiola refused to be drawn on Monaco’s controversial late penalty after seeing his Manchester City side pegged back in a 2-2 Champions League draw against Monaco during the week.

“In football you have to win with the result,” Guardiola said about the midweek draw. “If you analyse the game there were many things that were really good. Step by step we will be better but we had many chances.

“We conceded almost nothing. We created chances, they defended so deep and tight, that it wasn’t expecting for the way they play but we adjusted and we played really good. When it’s close, you have to defend and we take the point.”

As Pep Guardiola sought to explain a record low, he provided an explanation that could be interpreted in different ways.

Tactically, that feels truer than ever. They have fewer pure passers of the ilk of Ilkay Gundogan and David Silva. Their front three can feature fast, direct attackers like Erling Haaland and Jeremy Doku, not midfielders masquerading as wingers and false nines.

For Man City, Rodri overcame his knee injury to play an hour in Wednesday’s draw with Monaco and may do likewise here but Omar Marmoush, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Abdudokir Khusanov and Rayan Cherki remain out until after the international break.

Mateo Kovacic has returned to training but may struggle to be match-fit for this weekend.

Predicted Man City XI: Donnarumma; Lewis, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Rodri; Silva, Foden, Reijnders, Doku; Haaland

For Brentford, both Reiss Nelson (illness) and Fabio Carvalho (knee) are set to return this weekend. Meanwhile, Gustavo Nunes (hamstring) and Paris Maghoma (hamstring) are both back on the grass and Nunes could be fit for a place on the bench against City.

Bees boss Keith Andrews must decide whether to stick with the 4-3-3 that got a result against Manchester United last weekend or revert to the 3-5-2 that he has used against tougher opposition like Chelsea. Kristoffer Ajer would likely come in for Dango Ouattara if he decides on the latter.

Predicted Brentford XI: Kelleher; Kayode, Collins, Van den Berg, Hickey; Henderson, Yarmolyuk; Ouattara, Damsgaard, Schade; Thiago

Viewers in the UK can watch the match on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League, with coverage starting at 4.25pm BST on the former and 4pm on the latter. Subscribers can also stream the match online via NOWTV.

If you’re not a Sky customer, you can grab a NOWTV Day Pass here to watch without a subscription.

The match is scheduled to take place on Sunday, 5 October at the Gtech Community Stadium in London. Kick-off is set for 4.30pm BST.

City currently sit eighth, six points behind new league leaders Arsenal after beating Burnley 5-1 last weekend in a match that was harder work than the final scoreline suggests.

New Brentford boss Keith Andrews had seen his side struggle at the start of this season, languishing down near the relegation zone, but an impressive 3-1 triumph over the hapless Man United last weekend came as a boon and they’ll hope to spring an upset over the blue half of Manchester today.

Welcome to The Independent’s coverage of today’s Premier League action which sees Manchester City travel to Brentford in the hopes of closing the gap on the league leaders.

Liverpool’s last-minute loss to Chelsea on Saturday means that Arsenal now top the table and the reigning Premier League champions have questions that need answering over the upcoming international break.

Their downturn in form has blown the title race wide open and Pep Guardiola’s side must now capitalise. City come into the match six points behind the Gunners but can cut that to three with a victory over the Bees.

We’ll have all the updates, team news and more throughout the afternoon so stick with us as we build up to kick off at 4.30pm.