In the Premier League, goals from set pieces are on the rise.
What’s behind the increased emphasis on dead-ball situations, and why do some teams excel while others struggle?
This week’s ‘Between the Lines’ looks at one of the defining trends of the season as clubs battle for set-piece supremacy.
A change of emphasis?
The increase in set-piece goals other than penalties can also be seen in the numbers. This season, he averaged 0.8 games per game, up from 0.6 games in the previous term, and about 50% more than his average of 0.5 games per game in the 2020/21 season.
The opposite pattern is seen for open play goals. He is averaging 1.8 goals per game in open play this season, down from 2.2 last season and 2.4 the season before that.
This is part of a shift towards greater efficiency from set pieces. Spurs manager Thomas Frank recently used the term “low-hanging fruit” to refer to set-pieces as a pathway to goals. This is clearly a view shared by a growing number of clubs, both up and down the division.
Coaches specializing in set pieces were rare until just a few years ago. Currently, 15 of the 20 Premier League clubs employ set-piece coaches. Brentford promoted their set-piece coach to head coach when Frank was replaced by Keith Andrews.
Arsenal have enjoyed success under manager Nicolas Jobar, one of the Premier League’s most famous set-piece managers. They recently hired former Liverpool throw-in coach Thomas Gronnemark, underscoring their commitment to making the most of set-pieces.
Professional coaches are responsible for introducing techniques and developing routines, which are honed through practice and repetition on the training ground. Teams are currently spending a lot of time on set-pieces, not only during matches but also behind closed doors.
According to Opta, the average number of seconds spent preparing a corner has steadily increased over the past 10 seasons in the Premier League, from 26 seconds in 2016/17 to 36 seconds this season, as players take time to communicate their routines.
While there has been a similar pattern in the time spent preparing for free kicks, this season the time spent preparing for throw-ins has increased even more dramatically with the return of long throws in and out of division.
Arsenal is the most effective, Liverpool is the least effective.
Arsenal continue to be leaders in set pieces. The Gunners have topped the table for set-piece goals (excluding penalties) in each of the last two seasons, and remain in the same position this season, with a total of 14 goals, one behind Manchester United.
Chesley and Leeds have the next-highest total of 12 goals, while Liverpool are at the other end of the spectrum, scoring just three non-penalty set-piece goals, fewer than Wolves’ four at the bottom of the Premier League.
Liverpool’s challenges go beyond just attacking set pieces. They have struggled defensively as well. Their 13 goals conceded from set-pieces this season are the second-highest in the Premier League after Bournemouth’s 14.
As a result, Arsenal are top of the table with nine set-piece net goals, but have conceded just five of their 14 goals, just ahead of Spurs, who have vastly improved in their areas under Frank, while Liverpool are bottom of the table at -10.
Inswinger vs outswinger
So what’s the difference between Arsenal and Liverpool?
In the corners, there are significant differences in delivery types.
Statistically, in-swinger corners are more likely to lead to goals, but Liverpool have the lowest in-swinger rate in the Premier League this season at 48%. In contrast, Arsenal have the highest percentage at 81%.
According to Opta, there have been 77 goals from in-swing corners in the Premier League this season, compared to just 11 from out-swing corners.
Part of this difference is due to the greater amount of inswingers compared to outswingers. But his inswingers also had a high success rate, with 5.3 percent of his inswingers leading to goals this season, compared to just 3.6 percent of his outswingers.
Using in-swing deliveries allows teams to target inside the six-yard box, putting direct pressure on the opposition goalkeeper and creating close-range chances from flicks and headers.
The inswinger’s trajectory also opens up the possibility of scoring directly from a corner kick, as Newcastle’s Bruno Guimarães did against Burnley in December.
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Watch Bruno Guimarães’ goal from a corner kick against Burnley
Inswingers into the six-yard box continue to work well for Arsenal, most recently in the 4-1 win over Aston Villa, when Gabriel put pressure on Emiliano Martinez and was able to bundle Bukayo Saka’s corner over the line from just a few yards out.
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Watching Gabriel score from a corner kick in Arsenal’s recent win over Aston Villa
However, there is a stark contrast in the location of Liverpool’s corner deliveries.
Arsenal took 58 per cent of their corner kicks inside the six-yard box, while Liverpool took only 36 per cent inside the six-yard box. Because it uses an outswinger, it has a much higher percentage of landing farther from the goal and therefore in a less dangerous area.
This diagram shows that almost three-quarters of Arsenal’s corner kicks land close to the opponent’s goal mouth
This is a factor that helps explain Arsenal’s excellent set-piece scoring record. Meanwhile, manager Jamie Carragher blamed Liverpool’s set-piece defensive problems on their zonal marking system, which gives opponents too much space.
He told Sky Sports extra-time, analyzing Harrison Reid’s long-range equalizer against Fulham earlier this month, a goal that came out of a throw-in situation. “I felt it was too easy to take shots on the edge of the box.
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Liverpool’s marking system gave Harrison Reid the space to equalize
“What Liverpool like to do on set-pieces is man-to-man marking and also three players in the zone. What that means is there’s an overload outside the box.”
Fulham eventually capitalized on their overload in great style, but this problem has been evident all season, with most of Liverpool’s set-piece goals conceded coming from second balls fired into space by opponents.
The seriousness of the problem can be seen in the fact that only Premier League side Crystal Palace have conceded a higher percentage of goals from set-pieces than Liverpool this season.
Leading a long-distance specialist?
This season, the majority of Premier League teams have adopted long throws. The average has more than doubled to almost four times per game. But which clubs utilize them most effectively?
Brentford have made the most long throws of the season, becoming the first team to reach 100 this season during last weekend’s 3-0 win over Sunderland.
Their use of long throws is nothing new. Bees were early adopters. This season, their pitching has led to three goals, tied with Crystal Palace and Sunderland, for the most goals in the Premier League.
Interestingly, however, it is Leeds, rather than Brentford, Palace or Sunderland, who are ranked at the top for shots from long throws and expected goals, suggesting they are the most dangerous.
Daniel Farke’s side have only scored two goals from long throws this season, but in total they have taken 28 shots from 75 long throws (3.46 x G), compared to Brentford’s 27 shots from 100 long throws (2.73 x G).
This is just another area where Premier League teams are competing to find an edge as the set-piece trend continues.
read between the lines last week
Before Michael Carrick was appointed head coach, we used Sir Alex Ferguson’s 2012/13 title winner’s style profile to consider which manager would best fit Man United’s legendary ‘DNA’. Carrick ranked pretty high, but which former Chelsea manager came out on top?
