There has been a marked improvement in Liverpool’s set-piece record since Aaron Briggs left Liverpool – the numbers don’t lie.
Football is the game we love because of its unpredictability. It is a game of constant battles, each with their own small prizes or consequences.
We try to control the chaos with tactics, formations and patterns of play. Ultimately, though, association football comes down to moments.
In that split second before a striker takes his shot, almost all the infinite variables at play suddenly cease and there are two outcomes: goal or no goal.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - Sunday, November 9, 2025: Liverpool's Florian Wirtz prepares to take a corner-kick during the FA Premier League match between Manchester City FC and Liverpool FC at the City of Manchester Stadium. Man City won 3-0. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Coaches spend lifetimes trying to understand the intricacies of the game and make sense of it all, so when set-pieces provide a brief moment of calm within the storm, they are taken full advantage of.
We can’t quite define a set-piece as a closed skill, even a penalty has the variable of the goalkeeper’s actions. However, compared to the rest of a match, it is a tranquil haven for coaches by contrast.
Here, they can better control the outcome of the play. These are moments that have become increasingly important in the Premier League, particularly this season.
Among the many reasons Liverpool fell behind this season was their extremely poor record at set-pieces, attacking and defending.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Saturday, November 22, 2025: Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai places a yellow Puma ball in the corner quadrant before taking a corner-kick during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Nottingham Forest FC at Anfield. Forest won 3-0. General ball (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
In a year when Arsenal could effectively win the league because of their incredible record from corners, the Reds have struggled massively.
From the start of the season to January 1, Liverpool scored from eight set-pieces and conceded 13.
However, 2026 has seen them begin to turn their record around, having already scored eight and conceded only two since the New Year.
So what has changed?
The numbers can’t be a coincidence since Aaron Briggs’ exit
KIRKBY, ENGLAND - Saturday, August 24, 2024: Liverpool's first team individual development coach Aaron Briggs during the Premier League 2 Division 1 match between Liverpool FC Under-21's and Leicester City FC Under-21's at the Liverpool Academy. Leicester won 2-1. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
The notable change has been the departure of set-piece coach Aaron Briggs.
While it is impossible to see behind closed doors and know who inputs which ideas, it does appear that Briggs just wasn’t up to Liverpool’s required standards.
But was that his fault? He wasn’t even hired as a set-piece coach.
When Briggs arrived at the club in 2024, he joined as first team individual development coach. However, in the absence of a specific coach to cover set-pieces, he took charge of the area last season and was made permanently responsible for them last summer.
That was until the club removed him from his post at the end of 2025, with Liverpool having conceded 12 goals from set-pieces in the Premier League – the joint-most alongside Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest at that point.
Just a few days before Briggs’ exit, Slot said: “I know the importance of it, it gets more and more, and that’s why we are so annoyed by our current record.
“It’s a big frustration we are where we are this season because when we were halfway through last season, we had not conceded one set-piece [goal].
“It’s impossible to be top-four, top-five with our set-piece balance, let alone winning the league.”
With Briggs out the door, Liverpool’s staff have now taken collective responsibility for set-plays, with first team set-piece analyst Lewis Mahoney, who joined from Southampton in September, occupying Briggs’ seat on the bench.
Defending set-plays
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Saturday, January 31, 2026: Liverpool's Ibrahima Konaté is embraced by his team-mates goalkeeper Alisson Becker (L) and captain Virgil van Dijk (R) as he celebrates after scoring the fourth goal during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Newcastle United FC at Anfield. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Before Briggs left, Liverpool were conceding at a rate of 8.2 goals per 100 set-pieces, with only Forest averaging more. Nobody in Europe’s top five leagues had conceded more.
Liverpool had faced 85 corners, equating to a goal conceded from approximately every 12 corners. West Ham had faced 114 and were conceding on average once in every 11 set-plays.
A reason they have been able to turn their record around is the nature of the goals they were conceding.
Most Goals Conceded from Corners (PL Era Only)
Rank Season Games Goals Conceded
1 2015/16 38 10
2 1992/93 42 9
3 2011/12 38 8
4 2025/26 up to Dec 31 18 7
=5 1996/97 38 7
=5 2016/17 38 7
=5 2023/24 38 7
8 1993/94 42 7
*Data from Opta
These weren’t corners or free-kicks that were being directed into the net with the first contact. In fact, when Briggs left, Liverpool had just the third-lowest xG tally (2.46) from shots/headers conceded after a corner in the league.
This indicates that Liverpool’s ability to win the first ball through Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate was not the issue.
Instead, it was the flick-ons, knock-downs and second-phase efforts that were usually posing the problems. This was a matter of anticipation and the side’s tactical set-up.
A good example came when Crystal Palace opened the scoring at Selhurst Park in September. In the first image you can see goalscorer Isamaila Sarr, circled in white, beginning his run as the corner is taken.
The image below shows Sarr completely unmarked at the moment Ryan Gravenberch wins his header but inadvertently knocks the ball back into the six-yard box.
The ball then falls for Sarr who can’t miss from close range. It wasn’t the only set-piece the Reds conceded that day either.
After Federico Chiesa had equalised, Eddie Nketiah won it late on for Palace, finishing off the second phase of a long throw-in.
On this occasion, Palace won four consecutive aerial duels, but that wasn’t even what led to the goal. It was the lax marking from Jeremie Frimpong that gave Nketiah space to finish.
If this happens once, it’s an individual mistake. When Liverpool concede more than any other team in Europe’s top five leagues, it is a trend of players not knowing their individual jobs or being positioned in the wrong places.
Liverpool’s turnaround post-Briggs is down to a mixture of reasons, chiefly concentration and better positioning.
Attacking set-pieces
Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk celebrates scoring their side's first goal of the game during the Premier League match at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland. Picture date: Wednesday February 11, 2026.
What laid Liverpool’s set-piece deficiencies even more bare was the fact they were poor at both ends.
Liverpool were averaging 2.4 goals scored per 100 set-pieces in the league. Only Brentford had a worse average, but the contrast from 2025 to 2026 has been stark.
The Reds have scored from eight set-plays since January 1, the same number they managed in the entirety of the season’s first four-and-a-half months.
In fact, Slot’s side have scored from three corners in their last four league games. Before that, they had scored one in 22 league matches.
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“Even though last season they (set-pieces) were very important, it has now gone through the roof in terms of importance.”
Arne Slot
Notable for its importance was Van Dijk’s header at the Stadium of Light to beat Sunderland 1-0.
The captain flicked in from inside a crowded six-yard area following Mo Salah‘s inswinging corner – the fact it was an inswinger is key.
If you’ve watched Arsenal this season, you will know this has been their go-to move that has been so effective, and it seems to be an approach Liverpool are now adopting.
For Van Dijk’s goal, Liverpool had four men inside the six-yard box, with two more just outside, forcing Sunderland to push back.
The hosts ended up with nine of their own players packed in a tight area, which contributed to goalkeeper Robin Roefs not being able to come and clear.
Chaos ensued and Van Dijk’s aerial presence won the day thanks to an excellent inswinging delivery from Salah.
According to Sky Sports, prior to last month’s defeat at Bournemouth, Liverpool had the lowest percentage of inswinging deliveries in the Premier League, at 49.4 percent, well below the average of roughly 70 percent.
In the four league matches since, their percentage has risen to 82.5 percent, with 28 of their 34 corners against Bournemouth, Newcastle, Man City and Sunderland having been inswingers.
The new approach is working and having the ability to score from dead balls should be a huge advantage for Liverpool when they aren’t at their best in the latter stages of the season.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Saturday, February 14, 2026: Liverpool's head coach Arne Slot waves to the supporters after the FA Cup 4th Round match between Liverpool FC and Brighton & Hove Albion at Anfield. The game ended 3-0. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Slot said: “People ask me multiple times about the difference in our Premier League and Champions League performances now and the most simple answer is set-pieces, because in the Champions League we are top in set pieces and in the Premier League we are completely bottom.
“And that reflects in the league table as well. The current Premier League is so much more about set pieces than it was last year.
“Even though last season it was very important, but it has now gone through the roof in terms of importance.
“It is actually impossible to win the league with a balance like ours, you need to have a plus five to even have a chance, even if you are playing well, to win the league.”
Despite that balance no longer looking quite so abysmal, Liverpool won’t be able to win the league this season.
As for the Champions League, however, it seems like fate that the destination of Ol’ Big Ears should be decided by a dead-ball routine at the end of a campaign defined by set-pieces.
It may not be enjoyable to watch, but if Liverpool win in Budapest thanks to a corner, they will look back at the decision to relieve Briggs of his duties as a win for management; an example of decisive action that has resulted in material benefits.