Arsenal have made a habit scoring from set-pieces this season, but that isn't necessarily good.
It is a useful trait and a key strength that has been created by the appointment of a specialist coach in Nicolas Jover. It has the potential to change games, just as it did against Manchester United last week when both goals in the 2-0 win came from corners.
The Gunners went behind against Fulham at Craven Cottage in their next game on Sunday but ensured they would at least head back across London with a point when William Saliba equalised following another corner. Given the dominance thereafter it would still have felt like two points dropped.
Although there has been criticism - Ruben Amorim bemoaned set-pieces being the difference against United and jibes have been made comparing the Gunners with Tony Pulis-era Stoke City - the onus is on other teams to figure out how to stop the threat.
The danger is, when they do (nothing in football lasts forever, just ask Manchester City), Arsenal have stumbled into what appears to be a growing over-reliance on set-pieces to produce chances.
Only two of Arsenal's last eight Premier League goals over three games against West Ham United, Manchester United and now Fulham haven't come as a result of a set-piece or penalty.
#Arsenal's dependece on set pieces as a share of their total non-penalty xG is the second-highest of any team in the #PremierLeague in the last eight seasons.
As the top-20 list shows, high values of this share are quite rare for elite teams. The only team to finish the season… pic.twitter.com/DZXxEh3A62
— Soccerment (@Soccerment_Blog) December 9, 2024
What’s more, according to stats identified by xvalue, the Gunners have become more dependent on set-pieces than nearly every other Premier League team of the last eight seasons. The proportion of set-pieces in their non-penalty xG metric is 37.1% so far in 2024/25. It means around two in every five non-penalty goals they are expected to score is a chance from a set-piece.
The only team over the same period with a higher dependency on set-pieces for non-penalty xG is Cardiff City from 2018/19, on 43%. Just below Arsenal is West Bromwich Albion from 2017/18 and Burnley from 2019/20. No other rival clubs feature in the top 20, with the list otherwise exclusively containing sides typically associated with being less able to create from open play.
Arsenal's set-piece xG per 90 minutes is way higher than most other clubs in the Premier League this season, with only Aston Villa coming close to matching it. Their open play xG per 90 minutes is far short of Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and even Bournemouth, having drastically fallen since last season. That again points to a new overreliance on set-pieces.
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