Manchester City 5-1 Burnley Review

Premier League GW6

During a weekend when Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs, and United all dropped points, it was important that Manchester City won at home to Burnley. After a mixed performance across the first half, the team bounced back in the second to pick up three points. Jeremy Doku continued his form. Phil Foden was at the heart of everything in the final third. Nico Gonzalez continues to take steps forward in place of Rodri as the number six.

MOTM: JEREMY DOKU

Other standout performances include: Nico Gonzalez & Phil Foden

Notable Stats:

• Maxime Estève is only the sixth player ever to score two own goals in the same Premier League game, and first since Craig Dawson against Everton for Wolves in December 2024.

• No player has been directly involved in more Premier League goals than Erling Haaland since he joined Man City (110). 

• Erling Haaland has now scored more goals than any other Norwegian player in Premier League history (93). 

• Jérémy Doku is the only Man City player to have more than 20 touches in the opposition box in a PL game since Pep Guardiola took charge. 
  ◎ 23 vs. Luton (2024) 
  ◎ 21 vs. Chelsea (2024) 
  ◉ 21 vs. Burnley (2025) 

Game Stats:

Manchester City 5-1 Burnley

• xG: 3.28 - 0.53

• xThreat: 1.92 - 0.91

• Possession: 68.1% - 31.9%

• Field Tilt: 79.7% - 20.3%

• Penalty Box Shots: 13 - 5

• Deep Entries: 32 - 4

• PPDA: 12.3 - 14.2

• High Turnovers: 3 - 2

Savinho starts back-to-back matches for the first time since March 2025.

Nico O'Reilly has started more games in October this season (5) than he did during the first six months of last season (4).

Jeremy Doku completes his first full 90' of the season. Mateo Kovacic is in the squad for the first time this season.

If you want to stay up-to-date on individual player minutes, back four combinations, underlying numbers, and more, check out the live Google sheet below. 👇

Matheus Nunes continues at right-back whilst Khusanov is out from injury. Savinho comes in to play right-wing for his first Premier League start of the season, and Nico Gonzalez keeps his spot in the team. Continuing to build on previous performances, you see the rotations between Jeremy Doku and Nico O’Reilly on the left side. Phil Foden is at the centre of it all.

In the first half, you saw more of Matheus Nunes playing as the RCB, not supporting Savinho, instead trying to find him in isolation 1v1, and the latter not having much success when he was. That quickly became an area Burnley would try to apply pressure to force Manchester City back, and in the second half, that changed. Nunes was free to push up as Reijnders dropped deep, and Bobb could move inside or hold the width.

Whilst they were sloppy at points in the first half, the final twenty minutes, Burnley were able to gain some momentum; it all stemmed from the poor dynamics on the right side. Slowly improving in the second half, and then up another level once Bobb came on (62’). The backline of Dias, Gvardiol, and Nunes was also quite flat in the first half, when in possession, pushed into the opposition half. This gave them little option when under pressure other than to go back.

M. Esteve 12' (OG) 1-0  
Manchester City gets the lead early in the game. Pass into Haaland, who drops deep to receive, and then plays it across to Jeremy Doku on the left side. He's able to beat Walker, a little fortunate on the deflection this time, as the ball lands for Doku to shoot.

In an attempt to stop Foden, who is arriving in the 6-yard box, Esteve ends up scoring an own goal. It's not relevant for this goal, but you can see Haaland in the background. Once another player is making a run to the 6-yard box, he'll arrive in space towards the top of the box. Last season, we didn't have enough players making those types of runs, so Haaland always had to attack the 6-yard box. Now, you have Foden, Reijnders, and Marmoush all supporting him here.

Burnley (38’) manages to equalize after a loose pass by Nico O’Reilly is recovered, shifting the ball out to the opposite side quickly to get Nunes 1v1 with Hartman. Dias drops too deep inside the box that once the ball is played into J. Anthony, he’s not close enough to intercept or block the shot. The swing in momentum, during a poor twenty minutes to finish the first half, stemmed from the dynamics on the right side, which struggled to progress the ball.

Matheus Nunes touches in the first half (top) compared to the second half (bottom) against Burnley. Worked much better when the emphasis was on him to stay wide, make runs ahead of the ball, and get into the box.

M. Nunes 61' 2-1  
Doku carries down the left side, and his burst of pace gives him enough separation from Walker to fire a ball into the box to Foden. Turn inside the box from Foden before laying off for Gvardiol to provide a first-time cross to the back-post. Something we've seen them work on in training sessions.

Haaland heads it down for Nunes to volley into the net. Getting several players into the box has been a clear improvement in the opening games, compared to last season, and the use of full-backs arriving into the box has been one of the ways they’ve done it. In the lead-up to this goal, Reijnders drops back, swaps with Nunes, allowing him to arrive in the box. Little details like that give the Burnley midfielder a question of who he’s meant to keep track of.

Esteve 65' (OG) 3-1 
O'Reilly holds the width as Jeremy Doku moves inside, Walker is not sure whether to get tight or not, and ends up too late to stop Doku receiving and finding Foden. On the turn, Foden immediately plays it through to Nunes arriving into the box, who fires the ball across the top of the 6-yard box. Esteve ends up getting a touch on this one, taking it past the keeper as an own goal.

It’s not long after the goal that Nathan Ake (70’) comes on for Josko Gvardiol. He’s come on for the final 10 - 20 minutes of the last three Premier League matches. It’s a change Guardiola has made in previous seasons, but he looks more willing to do it consistently this season. Maybe we’ll see that change once all the central defenders are up to fitness. Then, to see out the final minutes, Rico Lewis (83’) comes on for Nico O’Reilly and Bernardo Silva for Tijjani Reijnders.

E. Haaland 90' 4-1
Quick pass out to Doku from Lewis, taking on Walker 1v1 and cutting onto his right foot to pass to Haaland. Holding off the defenders, he's able to get on top of the ball, striking into the right corner. Notice how Haaland initially heads towards the back post, taking the attention of two defenders, and leaving space for a teammate to arrive. Instead, it ends up clearing a path for the pass through to Haaland.

E. Haaland 90'+3 5-1  
Clearance from Nathan Ake is followed by a poor attempt by Burnley to head it back clear. Haaland sneaks into the space behind defenders and can pounce on the loose ball. First touch to settle the ball, takes another just on the edge of the box, and the keeper doesn't bite. He stood his ground to attempt the save. Haaland opens up his body and takes the shot around the keeper to the left side of the goal.

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Moving Forward

As I mentioned in the beginning, it was vital to win against Burnley in the context of other teams dropping points. I think the dynamics on the right side, which caused some issues in the first half, are down to the players selected on that side, with some poor decisions, rather than something to be worried about long-term. Especially when you see the improvement in the second half.

There are two more games before the October International break, and it’s important to win both, extending the unbeaten run. Building momentum. Neither will be easy, Monaco and Brentford away from home, but the team is more than capable of doing it.

First full 90' completed for Jeremy Doku this season, providing another assist that takes him to 4 G+A in his last 5 starts. 7/12 successful dribbles. 3 chances created. Most duels won (10). He had more than double the touches in the Burnley penalty area (21) than the entire Burnley team managed to make in the Manchester City penalty area (10).

Jeremy Doku for Manchester City
2023/24 - 2024/25 > 10 through balls completed 42 starts
2025/26 > 6 through balls completed in 5 starts

Since Jeremy Doku joined Manchester City in 2023, no player in Europe's T5 Leagues has registered more matches (22) with 10+ progressive carries.

I've loved watching the relationship developing between Jeremy Doku and Nico O'Reilly on the left side over recent games. Initially, it was how the two of them would rotate to maintain the width, freeing the other to drift inside, as we saw against Napoli and Manchester United. Touch map of NOR against Burnley below. Providing a lot of underlapping runs, through the half-space, that either dragged an opposition defender with him to open up space inside, or Doku played the pass through to him inside the box.

Great to see Nico Gonzalez build on his performance in the League Cup, playing as the number six, and removing that concern we had throughout last season with no player to cover for Rodri. In that, we missed a midfielder who could consistently smell and deal with any danger. Wins his aerial duels (4/4) and ground duels (2/2). Covers the central spaces. The all-around influence of Rodri, to impact the team in the final third as a number six, that area of his game is slowly developing, but the stability he’s delivering.

Final mention would be Phil Foden, who wasn’t the player decisive in goals and assists against Burnley, but like Doku, he’s involved in nearly every goal and chance the team has. Supporting progression by dropping deep. Moving outside the opposition block to pass out wide. Connecting play with his quality to receive on the half-turn in the pockets.

Next up for Manchester City is Monaco (A) on the 1st of October at 20:00 (UK) as the team looks to win back-to-back Champions League matches for the first time since October 2024.