There’s still an overriding feeling that Manchester City are not quite where they used to be.
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It’s a fair assessment but after a 1-0 win against Real Madrid in the Bernabeu and a 3-0 victory away at fifth-placed Crystal Palace, the current squad are doing pretty nicely, thank you.
After five straight wins in all competitions and 12 in their last 15, City are second in the Premier League and fourth in the Champions League group table.
Those two trophies are clearly the priority but anyone thinking that they may drop their guard in the Carabao Cup should be reminded that Pep Guardiola’s men won this four years on the trot from 2018 to 2021.
City have reached the last eight again via wins over Huddersfield (2-0 away) and Swansea (3-1 away), and a home tie against Brentford gives them a golden chance to reach the semi-finals.
Brentford secured their last-eight spot with a 2-0 victory at Bournemouth, a win on penalties over Aston Villa, and a 5-0 romp at Grimsby, who had put out Manchester United in the second round.
An away trip to Manchester City isn’t the draw they would have wanted and the Bees head to the Etihad having picked up just one point from their last three Premier League games.
How to watch Man City v Brentford
Man City v Brentford kicks off at 19.30 GMT on Tuesday, December 17 at the Etihad Stadium.
The game will be shown live on Sky Sports Football, with coverage starting from 7pm.
BBC Radio 5 Live and TalkSPORT will provide full match commentary.
Man City team news
It’s never easy to predict a Pep line-up but, based on earlier rounds, wholesale changes should be expected.
That starts with goalkeeper James Trafford being given the gloves again, as he has done in the previous two rounds.
Jeremy Doku is an injury doubt after missing the win at Crystal Palace while John Stones and Rodri will also miss out.
This would have been a good chance for Pep to have given minutes to striker Omar Marmoush and defender Ryan Ait-Nouri, but both are heading to the Africa Cup of Nations.
Teenage midfielder Divine Mukasa has played in both City’s ties so far and could start again.
Man City expected line-up
(4-2-3-1) Trafford, O’Reilly, Ake, Khusanov, Lewis; Gonzalez, Mukasa; Bobb, Cherki, Savinho; Haaland.
Brentford team news
AFCON also impacts the visitors with winger Dango Ouattara jetting off to Morocco to represent Burkina Faso.
Keith Andrews must also do without the injured Fabio Carvalho, who scored in earlier rounds against both Bournemouth and Swansea.
But the Bees will be able to welcome back Kevin Schade after the German was suspended for the 1-1 home draw with Leeds on Sunday.
Brentford may also use their No.2 goalkeeper and give a start to Hakon Valdimarsson.
Brentford expected line-up
(4-2-3-1) Valdimarsson; Henry, Van den Berg, Collins, Arthur; Henderson, Jensen; Lewis-Potter, Damsgaard, Schade; Thiago.
Man City v Brentford stats
– This is just the second campaign in which Man City and Brentford have faced in the League Cup, with the Citizens progressing 5-3 on aggregate in the 1989-90 second round (1-2 away, 4-1 home).
– Since doing the Premier League double over Manchester City in 2022-23, Brentford have lost four of their last five against the Citizens in all competitions (D1).
– This is Manchester City’s first League Cup quarter-final since a 2-0 loss to Southampton in 2022-23. Prior to that, they had progressed from eight consecutive ties at this stage of the competition.
– Brentford have reached the League Cup quarter-final for the fourth time in the last six seasons. They beat Newcastle 1-0 in 2020-21, before defeats to Chelsea (2021-22) and the Magpies (2024-25).
– Manchester City have won nine of their last 10 home games in the League Cup, scoring 31 goals in the process.
– Phil Foden has been involved in 11 goals in his last 11 starts in the League Cup for Man City (4 goals, 7 assists). He’s also scored seven goals in eight appearances against Brentford in all competitions.
Man City v Brentford predictions
Had the draw given Brentford home advantage, this could have been an interesting tie to call.
Only the top three in the Premier League have more home wins than the Bees this season, although their one loss came against City in October when Erling Haaland’s ninth-minute goal proved enough.
But Brentford have been dreadful on the road with seven losses out of eight, so it’s hard to see how they can pull off a shock here – even if City rotate heavily.
However, the hosts may not have it all their own way.
Starting with the 3-1 win over Swansea in the previous round, City have kept just three clean sheets in 11 matches.
And, arguably, they were fortunate to manage even that, with Liverpool having a Virgil van Dijk header controversially chalked off and Crystal Palace unlucky not to get on the scoresheet.
Brentford won’t want to die wondering, so backing Both Teams to Score at 5/6 has merit.
But probably the best bet of the night is to back Manchester City to win and BTTS at 15/8.
A 3-1 scoreline at 10/1 seems in the right ballpark given that City have scored exactly three goals in six of their last 11 games.