Simon Bajkowski, chief Manchester City writer for Manchester Evening News, believes that midfielder Phil Foden is currently in “the best form of his career”.

England international Foden has scored eight goals – three of which came in City’s 3-1 win over Brentford earlier this month – and registered seven assists in 24 Premier League appearances this term.

Just 15 days separate the two meetings between Brentford and Man City this season! The Bees took the lead in the first one, but City were just too good in the end. What did you make of that game?

It was a big test for City and another game in which they have gone behind away from home and had the character and skill to come back and win, which is a good sign for them.

Pep Guardiola always worries about Brentford from dead balls and it was proven again just why, with Mark Flekken smashing the ball straight down to Neal Maupay and Ivan Toney doing really well to keep Nathan Aké out of the way.

As soon as they had won, Guardiola was pretty quick to say he was already thinking about the home game coming up. City did take a lot of confidence from being able to come from behind in that game and win it.

City have had this game in hand for while now. How important do you think this fixture is going to be for them?

It is one they signposted. They probably would rather have faced Brentford without Ivan Toney for at least one of the games, but, at the same time, they would rather play this game now, when they are on such an impressive run of form, than they would have done when they were on a run of one win in six league games throughout November and December. The narrative has completely changed.

City have dropped just two points from their last seven Premier League games. Does it feel similar to last season, when they were trailing Arsenal for so long and then really upped the tempo towards the end?

They are in the mode now where they feel like other teams are stepping up the pace so they have to as well. It is a bit early to say they are going to be running away with the league or anything like that, but certainly the run of form they are in at the moment is one where they are pretty hell bent on getting as many wins in the bag as they can while they are playing well to put the pressure on Liverpool and Arsenal to see if either of those will break.

Last season, they really struggled in December and January and it was hard to see them winning the title in early February; then they just picked up and went on a run.

Similarly, when they left for the Club World Cup in December, it was difficult to see how they could recover. They have kept 11 clean sheets in 38 games, which is, you would think, unsustainable for a team who wants to achieve success – and here they are with still a big chance in all three competitions they are left in.

They are a team who have defied convention in a lot of ways, and they seem to be continuing in that fashion.

Which player should Brentford fans keep an eye on at Etihad Stadium?

It would probably have to be Phil Foden! He and Julián Álvarez have been the mainstays of the City team and the ones who have kept them in contention while Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne have been injured.

Since those two have come back, it has been Foden who has been able to stay in the team and score important goals and provide important assists. Would City have won at Brentford without Foden? Quite possibly not. He is a player that is stepping up and taking responsibility to score those goals when he is needed and he is in the best form of his career right now.

Will it be a similar set-up to the one at Gtech Community Stadium?

I think it will be similar, yes. It will be interesting to see if John Stones comes back in because he impressed in the Champions League and showed the first real signs this season that, with all of his injuries, he might be coming back to play an important role in the team.

Everyone remembers what happened at the Etihad in this fixture last season… what’s your score prediction for this one?

I will say 2-0 to City.