🔗 Share this article

A major talking point of the EPL this campaign has been the decline of goals scored in open-play scenarios and how teams have been scoring increasingly from set-pieces instead.

Looking at scoring methods to matchday 11 the prior season, there have been a drop of 39 goals in open-play and an increase of 26 from set-plays and penalties, giving us 13 fewer in total.

Examining the broader view, efforts on goal clubs are making reveal a remarkable drop of 370 in open-play than this time previously.

Even with the notable jump in set-play finishes, records show only two additional shots generated from them outside of penalties, showing how effective sides are at discovering methods to score from dead-ball situations.

Goal Averages Show the Tale

The 301 goals recorded in 110 games so far calculates at 2.74 scores each match, which if it continued for the entire campaign could be the lowest for since 2020-21, back in 2020-21 (2.69 average).

But just 196 scores scored in open play translates to 1.78 each match and is on course to be the smallest for 16 seasons, back in 2009-10 (1.76 per game).

The 2009-10 season is also the unique EPL campaign to see goals scored more often from set-plays excluding penalties than the current rate of 0.77 per fixture (0.79 per game).

Which Teams Bear the Most Responsibility?

In terms of goals scored from open-play, Wolves have recorded by far the biggest decrease, registering a mere four in 11 games, 10 less than this point the previous campaign.

Outside of Wolverhampton, England's top division's fall in goals from open play is very much a trend among London clubs, with five out of the London's seven clubs scoring five or more fewer goals from open play than last season.

In fairness, that's largely down to them netting lots of scores at the beginning of the previous campaign instead of their genuine struggle to score in open play this campaign.

Meanwhile Manchester City have experienced the largest rise, with all but one of their 23 goals to date coming in open-play.

Set-Piece Success

Comparing clubs that came up with the teams that went down they replaced. Play-off champions the Black Cats have recorded an additional three scores in open-play than the Saints managed in their first 11 games on their way to relegation last season.

Regarding goals scored from set-plays (not counting penalties), the Gunners and Chelsea have recorded the biggest increase, with both sides replacing the five less scores that they've produced in open-play with the same number from set-pieces.

Man United have recorded double the number scores from set-pieces as they achieved in the first 11 matches the previous campaign ahead of their coach took over, while Sunderland again have been more effective at converting than the fellow red-and-whites they replaced.

Man City seem unaware of the message about netting additional goals from set-plays, because they've recorded three fewer than the previous campaign, as have the Reds, though this may result from the change in style they've attempted to adopt.

League-Wide Trends

Six clubs – Arsenal, the Blues, Fulham, Newcastle, Spurs and the Hammers – represent the current campaign's primary examples by scoring fewer goals from open-play and increased from set-pieces, while Man City represent the sole team to go against the grain up to now by achieving the exact opposite.

It will be fascinating to watch if clubs carry on to rely so heavily on set-plays as the season goes on or if they rediscover their overall inventiveness and commence netting increased totals in open play also.