Analysis of how the Burnley pressing game cost the Clarets against a buoyant Manchester City side

Burnley have been in excellent form this season and found themselves pulling off a series of outstanding results.Their impressive start to the season has predominantly been down to an organised defensive unit but they simply could not cope against the quality of a rampant Manchester City side.

City passing quality makes the Burnley press redundant

The Clarets had the choice of either containing or pressing the league leaders in arguably their toughest test of the season. Manager Sean Dyche opted to press in an attempt to pen Pep Guardiola's side in their own half and test a back four that can be susceptible to errors.

Burnley pressed high in numbers but almost pushed too many attacking players into the cause. Against a large chunk of Premier League sides, playing such a high press will cause the opposition more problems than your own team.

However, the Clarets found the quality of City's players on the ball simply drew their midfield and lone striker out of the game. One pass, from just about any City player, was able to split the lines and allow City's midfield to attack in behind Burnley's quintet within the engine room.

The visitors did work hard to get back in numbers after pressing in large quantities and were able to support their back four on a handful of occasions. However, they were unable to set up with quite the same organisation due to pace of City's attacks, allowing gaps to formulate within the channels.

Aguero worked the channels to find gaps within a tight back four

Sergio Aguero, in particular, found joy within these areas, especially after he broke the deadlock from a debatable penalty decision. The Argentine forced Nick Pope into a number of saves as he chased down the all-time City goalscoring record.

Before the opener, Burnley did have an outlet when they were able to win the ball back. The strength and power of Chris Wood caused problems to the City defence, though the gap between himself and his closest support player, Jeff Hendrick, was far too big to pose Guardiola's side too many problems.

When Wood was forced off injured, Ashley Barnes simply could not offer the same threat. Although he was able to lead the high press, Burnley were simply ineffective with their attempts to pen City back and the midfield five constantly found themselves turning and chasing.