Where Has the Excitement Gone? This Drop of the Goals from Open Play
A major talking point of England's top flight season so far has been the decline of goals scored in open-play scenarios and the way sides are netting increasingly from dead-ball situations as an alternative.
Looking at how goals have been scored to matchday 11 last season, there have been 39 fewer scored in open play and 26 more from set-plays and penalties, resulting in 13 less overall.
If we look at the broader view, efforts on goal clubs are making reveal a staggering drop of 370 in open-play than this time last season.
Regardless of the big increase in dead-ball scores, we've actually seen just two more attempts generated from them outside of penalties, indicating the efficiency sides are at finding ways to net from dead-ball situations.
Goal Averages Reveal a Story
The 301 goals recorded in the first 110 fixtures to date averages out at nearly 2.75 goals per fixture, if this persists for the whole season could be the least for five years, since 2020-21 (2.69).
But just 196 scores coming in open play equates to 1.78 per game and is on course to be the least for since 2009-10, since 2009-10 (1.76 per game).
The 2009-10 season is also the unique EPL campaign to experience scoring more frequently from non-penalty set-pieces than this season's rate of 0.77 each match (0.79).
Which Sides Account for This Change?
In terms of scoring from open-play, Wolverhampton Wanderers have seen by far the biggest decline, netting only four in 11 matches, 10 less than this point last season.
Excluding Wolverhampton, the Premier League's drop in open play goals is predominantly a trend among London clubs, with five out of the city's seven teams scoring a minimum of five fewer goals from open play than last season.
In fairness, this is primarily due to their scoring many scores at the early stages of last season rather than their genuine struggle to find the net in open play the current term.
Meanwhile Man City have experienced the most significant jump, with almost every one of their 23 scores so far coming in open play.
Set-Piece Success
Comparing the promoted teams with those that were relegated they replaced. Play-off winners Sunderland have netted three more scores in open-play than Southampton achieved in matchday 11 en route to the drop last season.
In terms of scoring from set-pieces (not counting spot-kicks), Arsenal and Chelsea have experienced the most significant jump, with each team replacing the five fewer goals that they've netted in open play with identical figures from dead-ball chances.
Manchester United have scored double the number goals from set-plays as they did in matchday 11 last season prior to their coach assumed control, while Sunderland additionally have been more successful at netting than the club they replaced they replaced.
City don't seem to have got the trend about scoring more from set-plays, as they've netted three fewer than last season, as have the Reds, even if that might be down to the altered approach they've attempted to adopt.
League-Wide Trends
Six clubs – Arsenal, Chelsea, the Cottagers, Newcastle, Spurs and West Ham – represent the current campaign's leading trend-followers by netting less scores from open-play and increased from set-plays, while Manchester City represent the only side to defy the pattern to date by achieving the contrary.
It remains to be seen to observe if teams carry on to rely so heavily on set-pieces as the season goes on or if they rediscover their all-round creativity and commence netting more goals in open play too.
