Burnley 0-2 Manchester United, 5 Talking Points

#2 Burnley play all of their cards, but to no avail:

Vokes failed to make an impact as a substitute

Last season, Burnley dismantled their opposition with well-timed long balls over the midfield lines. Their squad has physically dominated, aerially strong and clinical forwards, who help Dyche carry out this plan to perfection.

However, as stated in the second point, there is a certain predictability and one-dimensional aspect in their gameplay, which could be neutralized by the opposition. Jose Mourinho asked Fellaini to play as the deepest-lying midfielder, and the Belgian was tasked with marking Chris Wood and laying down second balls for Matic and Pogba using his aerial prowess.

The presence of Fellaini as the midfield enforcer helped United to chop off Burnley’s primary attacking plan, and then Dyche resorted to using his substitutes in order to allow them to pave a way back in the game. Sam Vokes and Ashley Barnes came in the second half, but despite being a man down, United arranged them to perfection in order to avoid any hiccups late into the game.

The backline was well sorted, as Ander Herrera was brought in to provide further cover and generally to provide some leadership to a team that tends to panic during such dire situations.

Vokes and Barnes were Burnley’s standout performers last season, but their inability to crack a United team with 10 men just further emphasizes on the point that Burnley might need some modification to tackle different scenarios throughout the course of the season.