Blues 1-1 Burnley

 

Starting XI

One change. Dion Sanderson replaces Juninho Bacuna. Sanderson moved back to RCB and Maxime Colin shifted to RWB. Jonathan Leko dropped out of the squad.

Game

The first half was one of few clean chances. Jay Rodriguez and Taylor Harwood-Bellies (THB) couldn't turn home set-piece and neither could Auston Trusty or Sanderson. A nice Burnley move down the flank resulted in Vitinho firing over from a low Connor Roberts cross and Colin was later denied after good work from Emmanuel Longelo, Scott Hogan and Troy Deeney.

Blues came out of the traps well second half, Tahith Chong denied before Hannibal Mejbri's corner found Kristian Bielik to volley wide. Anass Zaroury was deemed to have dived, a decision I haven't seen back. Tiredness always had the potential to creep in and it looked to have cost Blues, Longelo gifting the ball to substitute Johann Berg Gudmundsson who bent expertly into the far corner.

Eustace was bold and replaced Harlee Dean and Bielik with Lukas Jutkiewicz and George Hall. It worked. The latter was sent in behind by Deeney and he crossed for Hogan to score his first this side of the international break. It didn't stop there. Hogan's cross hit the outside of the post, Longelo fired over and then struck wide from a Deeney cross.

Tactics

The first thing that caught my eye in this game was Burnley's set up when defending a standard Blues throw-in from just over half way. Nathan Tella v Trusty, Rodriguez dropped onto Bielik then Zaroury dropped into a half space between Chong and Bielik. Very deep.

It set the tone for Burnley whose approach was to always have bodies in and around where the ball was to win possession, play 1-2's and work their way up the pitch via wide areas or a switch of play, the latter of which lacked quality all night.

Burnley dominated possession, having just shy of 70% of the ball. Most of that was in defensive areas and was achieved with something of a diamond shape across the back, Josh Cullen stepping into a RCB role and Jack Cork in front of of them. The route was forward was down the right flank with Vitinho unable to escape down the left. Connor Roberts would be the move forward with either Josh Brownhill or Nathan Tella ahead. Their aim was to find the movement in behind and work the low cross with two or three bodies ready in the area.

How did Blues stop that? An aggressive press. Deeney and Hogan would initially sit off and ensure the ball to Cork wasn't allowed but once the ball reached Charlie Taylor, Hannibal would spring into action. If he turned out, Colin would be on the toes of Vitinho, Hogan would move towards THB, Bielik stepped onto Cork, Sanderson would track Zaroury into his own half and because of the energy and power of Blues' press, we would either force the error, a ball into the channel or a pass back to Muric. On the other flank, after some initial confusion, Chong took care of Roberts, Longelo went up against Brownhill and Trusty was responsible for the space behind. Cullen and Cork struggled to move into advanced areas as a result, making it difficult for the Clarets to overload us.

Burnley made a change on 70 with Gudmundsson replacing Cork. Gudmundsson played in a wide right position, Tella moved up top and the system looked more like an orthodox 4-2-2-2 rather than the slightly skewed one of the first 70 minutes, Brownhill loving central.

After conceding, Eustace made a bold double substitution, bringing on Jutkiewicz and Hall for Dean and Bielik. Blues moved to a 4-3-3 with Jutkiewicz and Deeney out wide, Hall RCM, Bacuna LCM and Hannibal the deep-lying midfielder.

Players

I have to praise the defence. Sanderson, Dean and Trusty didn't put a foot wrong. The former and latter appear to have got rid of the concentration lapses that threatened to cost them earlier in the season while Dean has returned with minimal fuss and even showed composure in possession, something we have lacked in that role at times this year.

Colin stepped back into a RWB position and was superb, willing all night to get at Vitinho and halt him. And Hannibal was excellent again, his decision making in possession erratic at times but his energy and bite infectious and he set the tone.

Few for Burnley stood out, in truth. Neither defender coped well with Deeney aerially. Arjanit Muric remains somebody I worry about defending crosses. I though Zaroury decided early on he didn't fancy the battle against Sanderson. And Roberts struggled to deal with Longelo down left-hand side. Brownhill at least tried to make things happen.

Wrapping it up...

Another game, another positive conclusion.

When we've performed well in this type of game in the recent past, it's because we've been on the back foot, defended for our lives, made blocks, earned luck, required our goalkeeper and made the most of a set-piece or something.

Not now. We're not just defending. We're hurting teams. We're making sure teams are worried about the threat we possess rather than us simply worrying about them. Our starting XI is physical, quick, disciplined and always looking to get on the front foot.

There remains the question of what happens if and when injuries begin to derail us but we don't need to worry about that just yet with the side performing and looking so fit and strong. And we again come into the weekend not wondering who will plug a gap but who Eustace will leave out in a bid to freshen things up and let Bacuna and Hall loose.