Season of the set-piece – how open-play goals are falling out of fashion

The Premier League season has nine matches in which to score goals from set pieces.

Arsenal currently leads the table by four points despite having only scored five times from open play because free kicks, long throws, and corners are popular.

There was a time in Premier League football when scoring from a free kick or corner was thought to be reserved for the weaker teams, who could intimidate more well-established opponents by firing crosses into crowded penalty areas, especially on a rainy night in Stoke.

No longer at all.

Tactics that were once celebrated in the shabby conditions of some Premier League stadiums are now in full swing among the competition’s leading teams.

Under Mikel Arteta’s leadership, Premier League leaders Arsenal have scored an incredible nine set-piece goals (excluding penalties) this year.

Open-play goals, according to Arteta, are now more difficult to come by due to improvements in coaching, tactical setups, and player conditioning.

Eberechi Eze scored from a set-piece in Sunday’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace at Emirates Stadium, Arteta said: “We are noticing a change. Physically speaking, the game becomes more difficult to play because you can constrict spaces and because you are better physically the moment the physicality increases.

Everyone is trying to find different ways to score, and I believe they are doing that.

Without a doubt, other teams are concentrating more on scoring from a set-piece, particularly corners.

The Premier League has scored the most goals from corners in the last two seasons, which is among the top leagues in Europe.

Set-pieces are so important, according to Tottenham head coach Thomas Frank following their 3-0 victory over Everton on Sunday at Hill Dickinson Stadium, where Micky van de Ven scored the opener two goals from corners.

The Premier League makes a number of tactical errors, not just those that involve corners.

Rory Delap, a former Stoke City defender, popularized the long throw between 2008 and 2012.

Through defender Michael Kayode, under the direction of former set-piece coach Keith Andrews, Brentford has used the tactic particularly well this year.

One of the eight league goals the Bees have scored from a throw-in since the start of last season has been one that has proved to be extremely potent, with one leading to Dango Ouattara’s opening goal in the 3-2 win against Liverpool on Saturday.

You have to give Liverpool’s manager, Arne Slot, credit for making a very good team that won duels and second balls.

If the set-piece balance is favorable, a football game is also difficult to win.

In the Premier League, Arsenal and Spurs rank first and third, respectively, and both do so for set-piece goals (aside from penalties), which highlights the tactic’s potency.

Liverpool, in contrast, have suffered defensively and are one of only three Premier League teams to have conceded from corners or indirect free kicks this season.

Liverpool then lost three more games in a row, conceding a late winner against Manchester United and Brentford from a throw-in.