Brentford need to improve as they visit Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City

By IANS

LONDON: Brentford will need to improve on their recent defensive record if they are to avoid becoming Manchester City’s next victims on Wednesday night as Pep Guardiola’s side continue what looks like an unstoppable march towards the Premier League title.

Thomas Frank’s side travel to the Ethiad Stadium after conceding 16 goals in their last five matches in all competitions and with City taking 12 wins and a draw from their last 13 league games, anything other than an easy home win would be a major surprise.

Consecutive wins have lifted Norwich City out of the bottom three and Dean Smith’s side will also have taken a morale boost from their FA Cup win away to Wolverhampton at the weekend.

Norwich have the chance to take another step on their recovery when they face Crystal Palace, whose young midfielder Michael Olise is currently earning rave reviews after recent performances, Xinhua reports.

Heung-Min Son could be back for Tottenham’s home game against Southampton, while Harry Kane’s seven goals in Spurs’ last 11 games implies the England captain is back to his best form.

Wednesday’s final game sees Aston Villa at home to Leeds United, with Philippe Coutinho likely to start for Villa as the home side’s England defender Tyrone Mings praised the coaching of Steven Gerrard in an interview in the Guardian interview, saying he had pushed the squad to “limits we didn’t know we could reach.”

Thursday’s games see Liverpool at home to Leicester City, with Mohamed Salah telling Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp that he is fit to play despite his African Nations Cup final disappointment as Egypt lost a penalty shootout to Senegal.

Finally, Arsenal should be well-rested for their match away to Wolves after Mikel Arteta’s side didn’t play in the FA Cup at the weekend.