Tactics: Man City's range of solutions to unlock Premier League defences

Manchester City take a break from the Premier League this weekend and can reflect on a commanding season so far, in which they've opened up a 15-point lead at the top of the table. 

While their 18-game winning run may have been halted by Crystal Palace on New Year's Eve, they bounced back with a victory over Watford on Tuesday.

Aside from that Palace game, Pep Guardiola's side have repeatedly come up with the solution to unlock opposition defences this term.

In the video above, Danny Higginbotham examines the different methods they've used.

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First he looks at how Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane's width caused problems for Watford.

First, they gave Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva space inside when the full-backs went to mark City's wingers, and then when Watford's defence tucked in, there was room for Sterling and Sane to exploit.

In contrast, at Swansea, Man City adopted a 2-3-4-1 formation in possession, with full-backs Fabian Delph and Danilo joining Fernandinho in midfield when De Bruyne and Silva pushed forward.

Watch Higginbotham explain how those moves played out by hitting play on the video at the top of the page.