Erling Haaland had a frustrating game against Chelsea but he looks hungry and tests Mark Flekken with the game's first attempt. It's comfortable for the Bees keeper.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport at the Etihad Stadium

Gone are the days when it was the two captains and the referee who were the only ones required for the coin toss.

I made it eight fans, four on either side of the officials, club media and TV camera operators - plus Kyle Walker and Christian Norgaard. Don't forget them.

A risky pass back ends with Brentford keeper Mark Flekken slipping on the greasy surface while making a clearance. The home side are, predictably, on the front foot.

Image source, Getty Images

And away we go.

Pep Guardiola and Thomas Frank shake hands and chat before heading for their dug outs. We're almost ready to go...

If Manchester City win this game, it would be the tightest title race with 13 games of the season to go since 2015-16, when third-placed Arsenal were two points behind leaders Leicester after 26 games.

As if Erling Haaland hasn't set enough records, there is a chance for another this evening.

The striker has scored against 20 of the 21 Premier League sides he has faced, with just the one goalless appearance against Brentford preventing a full sweep. Time to put that right this evening?

In fact, Harry Kane is the only player in Premier League history to face more than one side and score against 100% of them (32/32). Over to you Erling....

Tom Lockyer
Luton Town captain on BBC Radio 5 Live Monday Night Club

Image source, Reuters

Rodri in particular, the way he moves the ball... It is just a pleasure to share a football pitch with him. You don't say that about a lot of players. He is one of those players that once you get off the pitch after you're like "Wow!" What can't this guy do?

He is just a Rolls Royce, controlling the midfield, he dictated everything. When you thought you had him pressed and you were going to nick the ball, he was just teasing you in! He rarely gets caught on the ball and is just in charge of everything that Manchester City try to do.

He always makes sure his teammate who receives the next pass has so much time on the ball too.

Don't you just love a 7.30pm kick-off? And the fans inside the Etihad are currently enjoying a pre-match light show. We're minutes away from the start.

Michael Brown
Former Man City midfielder on BBC Radio 5 Live

City's point against Chelsea makes the game at Anfield somewhat tougher. It makes it interesting, the Premier League is always going to be tough.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport at the Etihad Stadium

Brentford achieved the rare feat of doing the Premier League double over Manchester City last season.

It won't happen this term as City have already won at the Gtech, although they fell behind in that game too.

But Pep Guardiola knows all too well the threat Brentford will pose, as he outlines in his programme notes.

"Brentford are a difficult team to face believe me," he said.

"They are the best from set pieces I have ever seen.

"This is a really big occasion and we will need to be at our best."

Michael Brown
Former Man City midfielder on BBC Radio 5 Live

Image source, Reuters

You've got to try and protect Kevin de Bruyne with the amount of minutes that will be coming. Other players can handle the loading better.

It's a dangerous Brentford side, who got a result here last year, but it's not going so well at the moment.

Pat Nevin
Former Chelsea and Scotland winger on BBC Radio 5 Live

The first time I saw Oscar Bobb was when he came on for Norway against Scotland and I thought straight away he's definitely a Manchester City player.

Manchester City

Winger Oscar Bobb, who starts for Manchester City: "We’re hungry as ever. We want to win every game.

“The second half against Chelsea was quite good and we’ll hope to build on that today. In the first half we were a bit shaky and in the second half we came out stronger.”

On Brentford: “It’s going to be a very tough game. They have top players and they’re a top team.”

Brentford

Image source, Rex Features

Will Brentford spring a surprise? They've lost eight of their past 10 Premier League games.

"The way Manchester City play, they slowly suck the life out of you in terms of just passing the ball around, keeping the tempo up and the pressure on you," says Bees boss Thomas Frank.

"But of course, the more you can attack, the more you can go the other way, the better. No doubt about that."

Manchester City

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola: "Everything is fresh. The players know it's another game."

On Oscar Bobb: “He's played really well in the minutes he's been given. He started in the FA Cup against Spurs. Jeremy Doku played such a demanding game against Chelsea. That's why I changed things."

On Brentford: "They’re a really top side. I've never seen a team play the way they do that doesn't cause problems. They defend so deep, and the transitions do the rest."

Tom Lockyer
Luton Town captain on BBC Radio 5 Live Monday Night Club

Image source, Getty Images

We've only played the three title contenders at home so far, but the general consensus in the dressing room was that Manchester City was the hardest to play against, and they were missing Erling Haaland that day as well. He's now coming back into that side too.

We've given all three of Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal a good game at the Kenny [Kenilworth Road], not so sure it will be as simple going to play them away from home. All three are incredibly good teams.

Ultimately at this level teams want to try and get in behind you, and Manchester City can do that better than anyone because they keep the ball better and can do it from better positions than most sides too.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport

Image source, Getty Images

It seems a weird thing to ask given Manchester City have gone 15 matches since their last defeat, drawing only twice in that time, but Pep Guardiola has had to respond to questions about his side's defensive capabilities before the Brentford game.

In those 15 games, City have kept six clean sheets - two at the Club World Cup, one against Championship strugglers Huddersfield in the FA Cup and one against Premier League relegation candidates Sheffield United.

Even for a team as good as City, it is dangerous to keep conceding, which is how they ended up drawing with Chelsea at the weekend - and found themselves behind at Brentford earlier this month.

"We love to have clean sheets," said Guardiola. "All the teams want it and we are no exception.

"But I don't go to them and say: 'You have to get clean sheets.' If I say 'just clean sheets' they forget to play and forget what they have to do.

"What they have to do is defend better - concede few, attack better and create more chances."

Brentford

Image source, Reuters

Brentford manager Thomas Frank: "We conceded three goals [last time we played City] but I actually thought we defended well. Any team facing City needs to defend well.

"We need to do our best to learn our lessons from those three goals and avoid similar situations tonight. I have a good feeling we can keep them relatively quiet, but we know City can suddenly explode and have five men behind you."

On the Premier League title race: "It seems that three teams are running away a little bit this season - they're a little bit above the rest. But we believe, we'll go out to perform and we'll see what happens."