Does this Manchester City system have any weaknesses?

Manchester City, who are in their second season under Pep Guardiola, are on cruise control as they comfortably sit on top of the Premier League and UEFA Champions League group F points tables. The Citizens are eight points ahead of second-placed Manchester United in the Premier League points table with 43 points out of possible 45. They are also one of the two clubs to have won all of their five Champions League group stage matches.

The Sky Blues are on top of their game at the moment, getting past their opponents with ease. City's current unbeaten run of 28 games is making football fans believe that the team could go on to win the league title as invincibles, something only Arsenal have managed in the Premier League era when they lifted the title in the 2003-04 season.

Moyes' comments

While many believe Manchester City are too strong to be beaten, some think the league leaders have weaknesses that could be exploited. One of the people who think so is West Ham manager David Moyes.

West Ham manager David Moyes believes City has frailties

Despite being aware of Manchester City's dominance, the Scottish manager claimed they have weaknesses ahead of his team's visit to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

"I think there are ways to play against them, I think they've got weaknesses", Moyes said while speaking to Sky Sports.

Even though the West Ham manager sounded confident while talking about City's weaknesses, the Hammers ended up losing 2-1 on Sunday. However, it cannot be denied that the visitors put up a good fight. Is Moyes being right about the Manchester club's frailties? Does Pep's system really have any weaknesses?

What are City's weaknesses?

If we analyse City's game under Pep, it might be wrong to claim that the team's system has weaknesses. It is almost impossible to find flaws in the Blues' game.

However, taking a closer look at their matches (especially the previous ones) will show that Manchester City do have chinks in their armour. They may not have 'frailties' like Moyes said, but Pep's system has this one flaw that could be exploited by their opponents.

Defending set pieces and crosses from the wings is the one problem that the Premier League leaders are facing. From the past few matches, it is evident that clubs have started to realise City find it difficult to defend crosses and set pieces. Some clubs have taken advantage of it.

Let's have a look at some instances where Manchester City's weakness was exploited by their opponents.

The Sky Blues picked up a 2-1 victory over West Ham, but the Hammers did provide a scare by taking the lead in the first half. It was former Juventus defender Angelo Ogbonna who scored the goal that put City under pressure.

The header goal came in the 44th minute of the game as a result of a cross from Aaron Cresswell following a corner, which the Sky Blues had failed to defend properly.

Another instance that exposed this weakness was in the previous gameweek during Manchester City's game against Southampton that the Saints eventually lost 2-1.

In the 14th minute of the match, Southampton defender Wesley Hoedt's header hit the bar after he received a headed pass from Maya Yoshida, who connected with a corner from Ryan Bertrand while the Manchester City defenders were caught ball watching.

In the 34th minute of the same game, another corner from Ryan Bertrand was headed down by Virgil van Dijk to Yoshida, who missed the target.

Neither corner was converted, but had the players been more clinical, Pep and his men would have been in trouble.

The team's flaw were first highlighted two weeks ago when Manchester City visited Huddersfield Town.

An own goal from Otamendi gave Terriers the lead in the first half

The Terriers got the lead through an own goal from Nicolas Otamendi in the dying minutes of the first half of the match. A corner from attacker Tom Ince was met by Christopher Schindler with his head and the ball then ricocheted off Otamendi.

Can City's upcoming opponents take advantage?

Teams have slowly started exploiting Manchester City's problem during set pieces and crosses. We could see more clubs taking advantage of it in the upcoming weeks as it seems to be a way to put an end to their unbeaten run.

The Premier League leaders will be travelling to Old Trafford to face their arch-rivals Manchester United this weekend. The Red Devils manager Jose Mourinho is known for his shrewd tactics and he could be the one to make Pep's men pay for their inability to defend set pieces and crosses. The Portuguese manager could deploy Marouane Fellaini upfront along with striker Romelu Lukaku and urge his wing backs to put in crosses that could cause a few moments of panic.

Mourinho and Pep will be at it again come Sunday

After United, the Blues are playing Swansea away. The Swans could use Wilfried Bony's physicality to take advantage of the weakness. Tottenham Hotspur, who City face after the Swansea, have players who can put in a cross or two. Spurs' centre-backs are pretty good in the air at the back and in set-piece situations in the final third, so they'll be in with a chance.

There are more teams in the Premier League who are good at crossing and scoring from set pieces. Even though Manchester City have managed to keep their winning run going, simply because of their irresistible attack, if Pep does not find a solution to this issue, sides could start making Manchester City pay for it soon.