Man City weakness exploited - what we learned from the Premier League weekend

Once again the Premier League weekend threw up plenty of interesting tactical talking points.

Here we pick out four of the key things we noticed.

Manchester City's out-of-possession work has been the source of some of their recent struggles.

Last week, we drew attention to Tottenham exposing City's high press by targeting the wide areas.

That tactic looks to be more an emerging pattern than a one-off, with Brighton's winner in their 2-1 victory on Sunday highlighting many of the same concerns.

For both Spurs' opening goal and Brighton's second, the ball is moved to a defender out wide, with City's attacker unable to press tightly. The wide player is able to turn and face forward before playing a long, direct pass down the channel.

One of their team-mates drops deeper, dragging City's full-back with them - Nathan Ake against Spurs and Rico Lewis against Brighton.

That means City end up with three players in their backline, who shift over to cover the space left by the full-back. One of City's centre-backs has to defend on the flank in an area they're less comfortable in, making them more likely to lose their duel.

Opposition players are then able to run in the space between the three defenders. Brighton, for example, had four players in attack against City's back three.

Brighton also vacated the central areas knowing that, by building down the sides, their players would be more dangerous out wide or running in behind.

With this pattern having emerged in City's past two games, it is worthwhile monitoring how Pep Guardiola will seek to address the issue.

Spurs' brilliant start under Thomas Frank came to a halt against Bournemouth.

Famed for his ability to implement a great press, Cherries boss Andoni Iraola came up with an interesting tactic that nullified Spurs.

Bournemouth funnelled Spurs down their left, setting up in what looked like an asymmetrical 4-3-1-2 press that did two things.

The first was to ensure Bournemouth had an extra player back to try to defend the direct balls Spurs like to play. If they were to match the hosts' 4-2-4 shape man to man as Manchester City did at times last week, Bournemouth would not have an extra player defensively to help mop up some of those second balls. They instead chose very specific moments to go man to man.

The second thing it did was funnel the ball into players who were less able to execute Frank's instructions. Brennan Johnson struggled receiving direct passes into his feet when Spurs went more direct from Micky van de Ven. His game is predicated on off-the-ball runs into the box to finish off chances, rather than strong hold-up play. By comparison, Mohammed Kudus' press resistance when dropping deep on the right is perfect for executing Frank's tactical plan in build-up.

By forcing Spurs down one side, the clever angled press - aided by the players' body shape, intensity and intelligent swapping of who they were marking when the ball was passed - prevented the home side from showcasing their quality.

Perhaps the introduction of more accomplished passers under pressure - Xavi Simons, James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski - as the season progresses will provide Frank's men a passing solution from deep against intelligent pressing.

If they are to go direct, they require better hold-up play from their wide men on the left.

Jack Grealish's loan move to Everton appears to have been an immediate success, with four assists in his first three league games.

And we saw a small detail of his game in the form of his assist for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall during the victory at Wolves. After carrying the ball down the middle, moving infield, he played a deft, slightly chipped pass over a defender's outstretched leg.

It is a hallmark of Grealish's game that is rather atypical of traditional English midfielders and something seen more in South American players.

It's a tool - as author Jamie Fahey notes - used in small-sided futsal games, and becomes useful on poorer quality pitches, where the ball might get stuck or not carry as easily.

Given how compact defences are in the Premier League, players who can execute a scooped pass can progress the ball at times others would hold on to it.

Whether out wide or centrally, Grealish appears to be showcasing his natural flair and confidence once again.

Chelsea have been strong on set-pieces in the opening three games of the season - getting good shots off following corners in particular.

Analysing Joao Pedro's goal in the win over Fulham highlights the interesting manner in which they have been troubling opposition goalkeepers.

Pedro found space from Calvin Bassey as the Fulham man defended zonally. The Brazilian striker didn't move just to get room but also to trouble the goalkeeper directly.

After moving away from Bassey, he applied physical pressure to Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno - being the 'blocker' Chelsea have used Delap as. It prevents the goalkeeper stepping up and frees space for team-mates.

But against Fulham, the 'blocker' stepped back into space to head the ball home himself. Leno was preoccupied with trying to deal with the physical contact and by the time the header came, he couldn't react quickly enough.

Chelsea's improved corner routines - and the use of certain players on the opposition goalkeeper - is a trend to look out for in coming weeks.