"Pep Guardiola's side are just so efficient at the moment" - Chris Sutton predicts result for Brentford-Manchester City PL clash

Football pundit Chris Sutton has predicted the result of Manchester City's Premier League trip to Brentford on Monday (February 5).

Pep Guardiola's Cityzens are riding a purple patch, beating Burnley 3-1 at home in midweek for their eighth straight win across competitions. They trail leaders Liverpool (51) by five points but have a game in hand.

Meanwhile, Brentford are at the other end of the spectrum. With 22 points from 21 games, they are 15th in the Premier League, just four points clear of the drop zone. In midweek, they lost 3-2 at Tottenham Hotspur in the league.

Considering the contrasting form of the two sides, Sutton predicted in his piece for BBC that City should coast to a comfortable win at Brentford:

"Brentford did the double over Manchester City last season, and they are about to play each other twice in the space of two weeks. I don't see a repeat of that Bees success, however. City have got Haaland back from injury, and even though he had his boots on the wrong feet against Burnley on Wednesday, it is just a matter of time before he is back among the goals.

"He reminded me a bit of my time at Chelsea, when I was like Bambi on ice in front of goal, but once he is back up to speed, it is going to be a very different story. Brentford will score, because everyone seems to score against City these days - even Burnley - but City will score more."

Predicting a 3-1 City wn, he concluded:

"Pep Guardiola's side are just so efficient at the moment, and Brentford's only hope is to hit them on the break. I don't see it working out."

The Cityzens are also alive in the UEFA Champions League and the FA Cup as they seek an unprecedented back-to-back continental treble.

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"All the players know how important he is" - Manchester City boss hails Erling Haaland

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has hightlighted the importance of striker Erling Haaland, who returned to action in the Burnley game after a two-month absence.

Haaland, 23, is in the midst of another superb season, bagging 19 goals and five asissts in 24 games across competitions. However, he missed 10 games before the Burnley game due to a strees fracture in his foot

Highlighting the importance of the Norwegian striker in his scheme of things, Guardiola elaborated (as per City's website):

“I don’t know if you saw the Burnley game, but he played 30 minutes and in every transition and every pass, all the players looked for him, so they know how important he is.

“We try to keep all of the strikers happy, especially him. It depends how we play. If we are comfortable, he will get a lot of balls, and after that, he will do the rest.”

City have won the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup this season.