Are you not being entertained? The decline of the open-play goal

The drop in goals in open play and how teams have been using set-pieces instead of goals have been one of the biggest stories of the Premier League season so far.

When compared to the first 11 games of the previous year, there were 39 more goals scored in open play and 26 more on team set-pieces and penalties, which totaled 13 less overall.

There are a staggering 370 fewer shots in open play than there are at this point last time out, if we consider the bigger picture and the number of shots teams are taking.

The average of 301 goals scored in 110 games so far stands at 2.74 per game, which is the lowest average for five years, since 2020-21 (2.69).

However, only 196 open play goals average at 1.78 per game, which is on par with the lowest total for 16 years since 2009-10 (1.76).

The only Premier League season with goals scored from non-penalty set-pieces in 2009-2010 is the one in which 0.77 goals per game (0.79) were scored.

Which teams are in charge of this season’s change in goals scored?

Wolves have scored just four goals in 11 games, fewer than they did at this point last season, which is the biggest drop in goals scored from open play.

The Premier League’s drop in open play goals is largely a result of London’s seven teams scoring at least five goals less often than they did last season, with five of the capital’s seven teams registering at least five goals from open play.

In all fairness, it’s more to them that they scored a lot of goals at the start of the season than to them that they have been really struggling to score in open play this campaign.

We’ve compared the promoted teams to the relegated opponents. In their first 11 games of relegation last year, Sunderland, who are now in the play-offs, scored three more goals than Southampton did in open play.

Arsenal and Chelsea have seen the biggest increase in goals scored from set-pieces (excluding penalties), with both teams regaining the same number of goals from dead-ball situations while scoring five goals less frequently in open play.

Before Ruben Amorim took over, Manchester United had scored twice as many goals from set-pieces as they did in the 11 games, and Sunderland have once again been more successful than the red-and-white replacements they replaced.

In comparison to the first 11 Premier League games last season, the table below shows how each team has scored goals so far this season.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Fulham, Fulham, Newcastle, Tottenham, and West Ham are the top trend-setters this season, with Manchester City the only team to reverse the trend by doing the opposite, compared to six other teams’.