Pep Guardiola has acknowledged that Manchester City are in need of a striker.

The Citizens have not had an out-and-out attacker in the traditional sense since Sergio Aguero left the club at the end of last season.

Attempts to recruit a quality replacement last summer ultimately proved to be thwarted for Guardiola, with multiple offers for Harry Kane knocked back, among others.

An approach to Cristiano Ronaldo was also hijacked by neighbours Manchester United, who sealed a homecoming for the Portuguese from Juventus.

Since then, a host of players including Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus have helped to plug the gap up front, while Ferran Torres was occasionally used before his move to Barcelona

While the lack of a traditional player in that role has not dented City's prospects this season, nor hindered their grip on the summit, Guardiola has admitted that City will look to recruit for the role again at the end of the campaign.

"I think the club needs a striker, definitely," the Spaniard said ahead of Sunday's derby clash with United.

"You say we play fantastically well without a striker because we are winning. When we are not winning, you say we need a striker.

"[You say] 'how do these guys play without a striker? In the Premier League you have to play with a striker'. So, we need a striker, I think the club is going to try [to buy one]."

City did purchase Julian Alvarez in January, before loaning him immediately back to River Plate, but it remains to be seen whether the Argentina international could be a long-term solution.

Jurgen Klopp admits Liverpool rode their luck to overcome West Ham 1-0 and further intensify the pressure on Premier League leaders Manchester City.

The Reds ground out a narrow victory at Anfield on Saturday thanks to Sadio Mane's 27th-minute strike as they moved to within three points of top spot.

Despite being without star midfielder Declan Rice and losing Jarrod Bowen to injury early in the second half, West Ham more than held their own on Merseyside.

Pablo Fornals had an effort saved off the line by Trent Alexander-Arnold, and big chances went begging for Manuel Lanzini and Michail Antonio in the final 20 minutes.

Liverpool finished with a higher expected goals (xG) return than their opponents – 2.0 compared to 1.4 – but Klopp accepts his side could easily have dropped valuable points.

"I don't know if we will remember this game as one of the most important. It was a tricky fixture but we did really well in the first half," he told Sky Sports. 

"We know about all the different things West Ham are really good at, and in the first half we denied them in all these situations. 

"We could've scored more, we didn't and then the game is open. I told the boys if you are not well organised you have to defend with passion and that's what we did.

"For their first chance Ali [Alisson] was calm, Trent cleared the situation. But this situation is a good example – people say we defend with a high line.

"But there was no pressure on the ball at all, we still had a high line and forgot completely Fornals, and that's obviously not how you defend. 

"The other situations were different. We lost the challenges and they were really there, had their big chances.

"We were lucky in these moments, but you can't win the number of games the boys have in the last few weeks without stressing a bit of luck."

Liverpool have now won seven top-flight games in a row, making this their best such run since stringing together 18 victories on the bounce two seasons ago.

The Reds went on to win a maiden Premier League title that campaign and are well in the hunt for another crown this time around after closing the gap on City.

City can restore their six-point lead at the summit on Sunday with victory over Manchester United, albeit having played a game more than their closest challengers.

Klopp will have one eye on events at the Etihad Stadium, where Liverpool are still to travel next month in what is shaping up to be a potential title-deciding showdown.

"Of course, we are interested in that game, but we have no influence on it," he said.

"We have to win the games we play. Those we do not play in we have no hand in it. We don't think about it or talk about it, we just try to win our games."

Alexander-Arnold's assist for Mane's winner was his 16th of the season, setting a new benchmark for the full-back having previously registered 15 in two separate seasons.

Only Bayern Munich attacker Thomas Muller (19) has set up more goals than the right-back this season among players from clubs in Europe's top five leagues.

Klopp hailed Alexander-Arnold's latest match-winning contribution from the back, while also praising Mane for getting on the end of what appeared to be a shot from the defender.

"When you see him [Alexander-Arnold] playing I think we help him a little bit with positioning and stuff like this," Klopp said.

"We try to bring him into positions, formation-wise, where he can be that influential but of course it's all about him and his skill-set and his quality and his right foot.

"That's it, that he is really in the situation and focused to set up goals in these moments, that he knows where the dangerous situations and positions in the opposition box are.

"It's very helpful if you work together for a longer time because the strikers obviously expect that as well. It was a brilliant run from Sadio for the goal.

"And I don't think it was a shot, by the way, I really think he wanted to… bring the ball in the box and then you need somebody who picks it up. It was a really good goal."

Mauricio Pochettino has suggested Paris Saint-Germain's defeat against Nice came down to misfortune more than anything else, after Andy Delort struck late to sink the Ligue 1 leaders.

The title frontrunners came up short against Christophe Galtier's hosts at Allianz Riviera thanks to the Algerian striker's late finish.

With the suspended Kylian Mbappe's absence leaving Les Parisiens short in attack, they have now lost consecutive league games on the road for the first time since April 2019.

Pochettino admitted that his side had not done enough to claim victory, but maintained Nice had not earned their three points either, chalking it up as something of a sporting incident.

"We thought it was going to end in a draw because neither of them had done enough to win," the Argentine stated in his post-game news conference.

"We had control of the game, especially in the second half, but we took a goal in transition and we lost. There's not much to analyse. There are times when if you cannot win, you mustn't lose."

With a Champions League last-16 second leg against Real Madrid to come, Pochettino was keen to re-focus thoughts towards the future, rather than dwell on Saturday's result.

"We are preparing for a competition that everyone in Paris is waiting for and that everyone dreams of," he added. "Wednesday will be a different game, a different opponent, a different competition. I have no doubts that we will play the game that we have to do".

Having guided Lille to the top-tier crown last term before a shock exit, Galtier has set about returning Nice to the upper echelons of the domestic pyramid in the south of France.

His win over PSG notched his fourth consecutive clean sheet as a manager against Saturday's opponents, while match winner Delort was one of his major signings last summer.

Speaking to Canal+ after the match, the Algeria striker was quick to heap praise on his coach too, stating: "He's the best coach in Ligue 1 and I hope he'll stay with us for a long time."

Liverpool closed the gap on leaders Manchester City with victory over West Ham, while Chelsea tightened their grip on third place in Saturday's Premier League action.

The Blues saw off Burnley 4-0 at Turf Moor, a scoreline that was matched by Aston Villa in their statement victory against Southampton.

Newcastle United, Crystal Palace and Brentford also picked up wins, but it was a bad start to life under new management for Leeds in their early kick-off against Leicester City.

Following another eventful day of Premier League action, Stats Perform delves into the key Opta facts from each of the games.

Leeds United 0-1 Leicester City: New manager, same Leeds

Jesse Marsch's first game as Leeds boss ended in defeat to Leicester as United fell to a fifth successive league loss for the first time since April 2015, when they were in the Championship.

Leeds have failed to score in three straight league matches for the first time in a year, this despite registering 19 shots in their latest blank against Leicester.

United's expected goals (xG) return of 1.95 is their highest without scoring in a league game since June 2020, and the familiar failings were also on show at the other end.

Harvey Barnes' second-half winner means Leeds have gone 13 league games without a clean sheet, their longest-such run since 14 without a shutout ending in August 2016.

This was the fifth straight league game Barnes has scored against Leeds – four of those while playing for Leicester and one for West Brom, making them his favourite opponent.

Aston Villa 4-0 Southampton: Coutinho's home comforts

Villa are firmly back on track after registering back-to-back victories under Steven Gerrard for the first time since his opening two games in charge in November.

The Villans put four unanswered goals past Southampton at Villa Park for their biggest Premier League win since thrashing Liverpool 7-2 in October 2020.

Barcelona loanee Philippe Coutinho once again played a big part in the victory by scoring one and assisting another for Douglas Luiz.

Coutinho has now been directly involved in six goals in his first four home league games for Villa, scoring three of his own and setting up as many.

Ollie Watkins had earlier opened the scoring with his 21st Premier League strike since the start of the 2020-21 season, while Danny Ings added to his two assists with Villa's fourth goal.

Newcastle United 2-1 Brighton and Hove Albion: Fraser helps end Magpies' duck against Seagulls

For a while things looked incredibly bleak for Newcastle, even after their big-money takeover, but they now find themselves seven points above the relegation zone.

The Magpies held off Brighton to make it eight Premier League games without defeat – no team is on a better such run – with five of those matches ending in victory.

Ryan Fraser opened the scoring to make it two goals in five Premier League outings, matching his tally from his previous 70 appearances, before setting up Fabian Schar.

That was the earliest United have scored twice in a Premier League home game since January 2007 and, despite Lewis Dunk's header, Eddie Howe's side saw out the win.

It marks the first time Newcastle have defeated Brighton in the Premier League in their 10th such encounter, having previously failed to so much as score against them at home.

Norwich City 1-3 Brentford: Bees buzzing thanks to Toney treble

After a run of eight Premier League games without a win, Brentford bolstered their survival ambitions with a well-earned victory away at bottom side Norwich.

Ivan Toney was the hero for the Bees with three goals, two of those from the penalty spot, making Brentford the 40th different team to boast a hat-trick scorer.

The Brentford striker now has nine Premier League goals for the season, each of those coming via his right foot.

Teemu Pukki scored a consolation but it was another miserable day for Norwich, whose goal difference of -42 is the worst at this stage since Derby County in 2007-08 (-44).

Not that it will matter a great deal in the grand scheme of things, but Brentford are the first team Pukki has scored home and away against in a single Premier League season.

Wolves 0-2 Crystal Palace: Shaky Wanderers lose again

Wolves' European hopes suffered another blow as they fell to a third successive Premier League defeat, as many as they lost in their previous 13.

Bruno Lage's out-of-form side have now conceded six goals in their last four league games, after shipping just five in 12 before that.

Jean-Philippe Mateta came up with the breakthrough from close range for his fourth goal in eight Premier League starts, and Wilfried Zaha doubled Palace's lead from the penalty spot.

Ivory Coast international Zaha has now been directly involved in 83 goals in the competition, the joint-ninth best total for an African player, level with Nwankwo Kanu.

With this latest loss, it is the first time Wolves have lost three games in a row against Palace in their entire league history.

Burnley 0-4 Chelsea: Blues cruise at Turf Moor

It was business as usual for Chelsea as they won for a third Premier League game running without conceding in what proved to be a straightforward victory at lowly Burnley.

The Blues scored all four of their goals in the second half as they enjoyed their biggest away league win since October 2018 when also beating Burnley by the same scoreline.

This was the biggest margin of victory for an away side in a game that was goalless at half-time since Tottenham beat Aston Villa 4-0 in December 2012.

Reece James started the scoring and in the process became the first defender from Europe's top five leagues to both score and assist five goals this term in all competitions.

Kai Havertz also netted twice before Christian Pulisic added some gloss to the scoreline – his fourth goal at Turf Moor, matching a record for an away player set by Tottenham's Harry Kane.

Liverpool 1-0 West Ham: Reds roll on thanks to Mane

Sadio Mane's first-half goal made it seven wins in a row for Liverpool in the Premier League, their best such streak since a run of 18 when they claimed the title two years ago.

That close-range finish was Mane's 12th of the season in the league, nine of those coming at Anfield – no player has scored more home goals in the division this season.

Trent Alexander-Arnold played the ball into the box for Mane's goal for his 16th assist in all competitions this term, more than he has ever registered in a single campaign.

Liverpool were not at their best and that was particularly true of Mohamed Salah, who failed to score from six shots – only against Stoke in April 2018 (seven) has he fared worse.

Incredibly, Virgil van Dijk has never been on the losing side for Liverpool in 60 Premier League home games at Anfield, setting a new record in that regard.

Carlo Ancelotti feels Real Madrid will have a great chance of beating Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League if they maintain the standard they set in a thrashing of Real Sociedad.

Los Blancos came from behind to thrash sixth-placed La Real 4-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday and go eight points clear of Sevilla at the top of LaLiga.

Mikel Oyarzabal gave La Real an early lead from the penalty spot after Dani Carvajal upended David Silva, but sublime long-range strikes from Eduardo Camavinga and Luka Modric gave Madrid a half-time advantage.

Karim Benzema scored his 20th LaLiga goal of the season from the penalty spot after having two strikes ruled out for offside and Marco Asensio added a fourth 11 minutes from time.

Madrid now turn their attention to overturning a 1-0 deficit when they face PSG in the second leg of their round-of-16 tie on Wednesday.

Ancelotti's side will have home advantage and the Italian wants to see the same tempo from his team when they take on the Ligue 1 leaders, who will come into the game on the back of a 1-0 loss to Nice.

He said: "We played really well from the beginning. The plan was to press up front, to stop Real Sociedad building attacks from the area. It worked.

"The physical effort was huge, we did well. If we play like this on Wednesday, we have a bigger chance of going through."

The Basques could not live with Madrid's intensity as they swept forward time and again at pace.

They zipped the ball around with great passing and movement in a dominant display, affording La Real just one shot, which gave Ancelotti great optimism heading into a huge European showdown against his former club.

"It was an important match because we had the opportunity to take advantage in LaLiga," he added, alluding to Sevilla's 0-0 draw with Deportivo Alaves on Friday. "The team has understood very well the importance of the match. It is a match that gives us great hope.

"This is the intensity that we have to have and that the fans like. It can be repeated on Wednesday against PSG.

"All of Madrid believes more after this game. The idea of ​​going out [to show their appreciation for the supporters] at the end of the game came from the players, because on Wednesday the help of the fans is essential."

A Kylian Mbappe-less Paris Saint-Germain misfired in his absence in their table-topping Ligue 1 clash with Nice, as Mauricio Pochettino's side were downed 1-0 by a late Andy Delort strike at Allianz Riviera.

Christophe Galtier's hosts snatched a dramatic late victory over the league leaders in Saturday's contest to move into second place as their visitors struggled to deliver without the France forward leading their ranks.

The attacker, top of the leaderboard for combined goals and assists in Ligue 1 this term, missed out as he served a one-match suspension following his yellow card against Nantes last month.

Though Les Parisiens remain comfortably entrenched at the front of the title race, 13 points clear of their opponents, they will hope to rediscover their spark in time for next week's Champions League clash with Real Madrid.

Eduardo Camavinga and Luka Modric scored stunning long-range goals as ruthless Real Madrid beat Real Sociedad 4-1 to go eight points clear at the top of LaLiga.

Mikel Oyarzabal's early penalty put the sixth-placed Basques in front at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday, but Madrid fought back to stay on course for the title.

Two brilliant strikes in the space of three minutes late in the first half from Camavinga and Modric put Carlo Ancelotti's side ahead.

Karim Benzema was on target from the penalty spot after having two goals disallowed and Marco Asensio added a fourth goal to cap a hugely impressive performance from Los Blancos.

Oyarzabal drilled La Real into a 10th-minute lead from the spot, firing into the bottom-right corner after Dani Carvajal had upended David Silva.

The leaders ramped up the pressure after that early setback and were level four minutes before half-time, when Camavinga let fly from 30 yards out with his left foot and gave Alex Remiro no chance with a thunderous drive.

Benzema had a goal ruled out for offside moments later, but Modric put Madrid in front by bending a sublime left-foot strike into the top-far corner after creating space for himself with his quick feet.

Los Blancos carried on where they left off after the break.

Benzema had another goal chalked off for offside but slotted home from the spot after a VAR check ruled Vinicius Junior had been fouled by Aritz Elustondo just inside the box.

Asensio put the icing on the cake, tucking in after the marauding Carvajal cut the ball back into his path as La Real were swept aside.

Trent Alexander-Arnold joked "they all count" after his wayward shot paved the way for Sadio Mane's winning goal in Liverpool's 1-0 victory over West Ham on Saturday.

The right-back chested down a pass and scuffed what appeared to be a shot from range, which Mane – narrowly onside – diverted past Lukasz Fabianski from close range.

That proved to be the only goal in a nervy victory for Liverpool – their seventh in a row in the Premier League as they moved to within three points of leaders Manchester City.

Alexander-Arnold's assist was his 16th in all competitions this term, setting a new personal best after registering 15 in 2018-19 and again in 2019-20.

Those 16 assists are the second most of any player from clubs in Europe's top five leagues in all competitions this season, behind only Bayern Munich's Thomas Muller (19).

While he may not have meant his latest assist, the England defender was pleased to play his part in a battling victory, having also helped clear a Pablo Fornals shot off the line.

"They all count," Alexander-Arnold told Sky Sports after team-mate Andy Robertson implied he was going for goal rather than attempting to pick out Mane in the box.

"I try to contribute as much as I can to the team. We all want to help win games for the team and I am happy to be able to continue.

"Both me and Andy tried to get forward when we had the chance, but to keep a clean sheet was our aim.

"We have been able to do that over the last few weeks. Being able to clear one off the line was great as it helped us keep that clean sheet.

"Look at the Burnley game when we won 1-0. It's great to win by a big margin but these are the ones that matter. It doesn't matter how you do it, you have to get the job done."

Liverpool are on their best winning streak in the top flight since a run of 18 between October and February in their title-winning campaign two years ago.

The Reds were made to work hard for their latest victory, though, as top-four chasing West Ham wasted two big chances in the final 20 minutes to claim a point.

Robertson, making his 200th start for Liverpool on the opposite flank to Alexander-Arnold, has now challenged his team-mates to keep their momentum going.

"West Ham played a good game but we defended well, put bodies on the line and got the three points," Robertson added to Sky Sports.

"Set-pieces have been a threat. It was never going to be easy but once we got the goal it was important to keep the clean sheet. Now we need more. We need to keep going.

"They are trying to get into European football so we had to help out our centre-backs and we were brave with it."

Dayana Yastremska says she did not expect the support she has received on her run to the final of the Lyon Open after edging second seed Sorana Cirstea in a three-set semi-final thriller.

The Ukrainian was forced to flee her home in Odessa last month amid the escalation of the Ukraine-Russia crisis and has embarked on an emotional run through this week's tournament.

Yet the 21-year-old wildcard admitted she has been overwhelmed by the support from across the globe amid her winning streak, crediting them for their help in her 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-4 victory on Saturday.

"It was a really tough match," Yastremska said. "In the third set, when I had match points and I lost that game, I was a bit crazy. I thought, I'm done, I've lost, because I don't have any more power.

"Then everybody was supporting me, and I felt like, 'you can do it'. I got a lot of messages from French people and from all over the world. But when I arrived here, I didn't expect I would get that huge support."

Yastremska will face Zhang Shuai in Sunday's final, after the Chinese eighth seed defeated French home favourite Caroline Garcia 6-2 7-5.

For Yastremska, it will be her first final since losing to Ash Barty in Adelaide at the start of 2020 – her only previous tournament success came in Strasbourg the year before.

Ben Stokes believes he let both himself and England down during the 4-0 Ashes defeat in Australia.

The all-rounder, who averaged only 23.60 with the bat and took four wickets, said Joe Root’s side have taken some "hard lessons" from the chastening defeat Down Under.

Stokes helped to salvage a draw with a half-century in both innings in the fourth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, but England suffered a brutal series hammering.

The vice-captain, who returned in Australia following a break to protect his mental health while also recovering from a finger injury, is determined to make amends in the upcoming series against West Indies.

"Looking back on Australia, we've had some honest reflections not only as a team but individuals as well," the 30-year-old said.

"I personally felt I let the team down with more than just performances, I would have liked to have been in better physical shape.

"When I look back on it, I felt I let myself down, but the thing that really grinds me the most and hurts me the most is that I let a lot of other people down and I never want to feel that way again. 

"Everyone's taken some good hard lessons from Australia."

England travelled to the Caribbean without legendary bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad, while head coach Chris Silverwood lost his job after the drubbing in Australia.

Stokes is fully behind captain Joe Root and says there is no point discussing the absence of Anderson and Broad.

"It's not all on the captain. Joe is 100 per cent the man to lead this team forward, and I'll be right behind him every step of the way,” he added.

"There's obviously been a big change with Stuart and Jimmy [being dropped,] but, with all due respect to them, they're not here and what we can concentrate on are the guys who are, and the opportunity they now have.

"We have made a real effort to make sure that from the top, the most experienced guy, Joe, to the guys who haven’t even played yet, we are valued just as much as each other. 

"When it comes to guys who are about to make their debut or haven't played much, there is that extra responsibility on the senior guys to help them through that.

"I don't see it as a negative whatsoever. The only thing for us now is [to be] positive, because there were a lot of negatives in Australia and it was a s*** place to be."

The first Test in the three-match series against West Indies start in Antigua on Tuesday.

Jorge Martin will start the season-opening Qatar MotoGP from pole position but the Spaniard is not confident he will be celebrating a victory on Sunday.

The Pramac Racing rider began the last race of 2021 at the front of the grid in Valencia, where he ended his rookie season with a second-placed finish.

On Saturday, Martin beat Enea Bastianini to pole by 0.147 seconds with a lap of 1:53.011, while six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez joins them on the front row as defending champion Fabio Quartararo was only 11th-fastest. 

Yet 24-year-old Martin will go into the race at the Lusail International Circuit under the lights without any great expectations of taking the top step on the podium.

He said: "I'm super happy about my performance. I wasn't expecting to be that fast.

"I'm not 100 per cent confident for tomorrow. We are still missing one to two tenths to fight for victory, but we will be one of the candidates. We have to work hard this evening and find this small thing to battle. 

"We are aiming for the win, but I am always a little bit on the limit. We have struggled with a new engine. It's not that easy.

"We are still missing how to manage the tyre and I am worried about the end of the race, but with my engineers and staff we will find something that will help me and we will be fighting for the victory."

Gresini Racing's Bastianini will start on the front row for the first time in the premier class and has his sights on a podium finish.

The Italian said: "For the first time I will start on the front row. I'm very happy about today, we did a very good job because it was difficult to go on the second qualifying.

"I did one error in the last sector, but I did a very good lap and I think tomorrow we can battle for the podium."

Marquez said: "It's important to start on the front row on a track that I'm not riding comfortably on. My style is not coming naturally on this race track but today I felt better, especially in FP4.

"We made an important change on the bike and since that point I started to feel better and in qualifying also the performance was there. I'm happy but tomorrow is the most important day. We are not the fastest but we will try to manage in a good way."

Provisional classification

1. Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) 1:53.011
2. Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing) +0.147s
3. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) +0.272s
4. Jack Miller (Ducati) +0.287s
5. Alex Espargaro (Aprilia) +0.308s
6. Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda) +0.335s
7. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) +0.339s
8. Joan Mir (Suzuki Ecstar) +0.396s
9. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) +0.4s
10. Alex Rins (Suzuki Ecstar) +0.47s
11. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) +0.624s
12. Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha) +0.971s 

Sadio Mane's close-range finish earned Liverpool a nervy 1-0 win over West Ham as the Reds closed the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester City to three points.

West Ham are one of only two teams to have defeated the Reds in all competitions this term and the top-four-chasers put up a real fight in Saturday's contest at Anfield.

Liverpool opened the scoring through Mane's 27th-minute goal and that ultimately proved enough for the home side after West Ham wasted a couple of big chances late on.

The Reds' 11th victory in 12 matches across all competitions, and a seventh on the spin in the league, only increases the pressure on City ahead of Sunday's derby with Manchester United.

West Ham – without key midfielder Declan Rice – were carved open inside three minutes, only for Lukasz Fabianski to thwart Mohamed Salah when one-on-one.

Michail Antonio twice tested Alisson but it was Liverpool who opened the scoring through Mane, who just about stayed onside to turn in Trent Alexander-Arnold's wayward shot.

A lively end to the first half saw Aaron Cresswell block Luis Diaz's shot on the line, a minute before Alexander-Arnold did likewise to deny Pablo Fornals.

The visitors were dealt a blow early in the second period when Jarrod Bowen limped off with an apparent foot injury, but they made life difficult for their opponents.

Manuel Lanzini fired over with just Alisson to beat from eight yards and Antonio could not shoot on target when through on goal in the final 10 minutes as Liverpool held on.

Thomas Tuchel praised the quality of Reece James after the wing-back registered a goal and an assist in Chelsea's 4-0 thrashing of Burnley.

James has recently returned to action after suffering an injury in December's 1-1 draw with Brighton and Hove Albion, playing just over an hour in Chelsea's EFL Cup final loss to Liverpool and appearing in an FA Cup win at Luton Town before starring at Turf Moor.

The England wing-back scored a superb opening goal early in the second half, twisting and turning before firing a neat finish into the bottom-left corner, before supplying an assist for Kai Havertz's second goal of the day as the Blues netted three times in eight second-half minutes.

With 11 goal involvements in the Premier League, James is the first defender in Europe's top five leagues to register at least five goals and assists this season, and Tuchel was full of praise for him after the comfortable win.

"We missed him for such a long time that you get used to it," Tuchel said. "It was nine weeks and in this time we had something like 25 matches, so we were constantly trying to find solutions and we did it as a team.

"We managed to win games and even titles in this period but once he's back and plays three times, today the first time from the beginning, you see what you missed. 

"[He has] such huge quality and it's very impressive how decisive he is in training and now even in the games.

"These [wing-back] positions are very important when you play with this [3-4-3] structure and it's the same on the left side, so it puts things into perspective when you see what we missed.

"I'm very happy that he came back like this."

James is also one of just three English players to record at least five goals and assists this term in the Premier League, alongside West Ham's Jarrod Bowen and Chelsea team-mate Mason Mount.

Meanwhile, Tuchel was also keen to praise the influence of Thiago Silva, after the 37-year-old contributed to Chelsea's third consecutive league clean sheet.

Before racking up their four second-half goals, Chelsea came under a good deal of Burnley pressure in a tense first period, and Tuchel was keen to highlight the Brazilian's importance against a physical home side.

"He's so professional. The dressing rooms are not so big here [at Turf Moor], which is not a problem, but when you're in there so close with the team you can see his focus, and how professionally he prepares for every game. 

"That's why he can perform like this.

"In a match where you have so many long balls and so many second balls, and where you rely so heavily on the quality of your first touch if you win a duel in the air, it makes a huge difference and that's what he does.

"It's very impressive but I can tell you he works very hard, and on top of it he's a fantastic person and a big character in the dressing room."