Are You Not Being Entertained? This Fall of Open-Play Goals from Open Play

One of the biggest stories of the Premier League this campaign has been the decline of scoring in open-play scenarios and how teams are finding goals increasingly from set-plays instead.

Looking at scoring methods to matchday 11 the prior season, we note 39 fewer scored in open-play and 26 more from set-plays and penalties, resulting in 13 less overall.

If we look at the bigger picture, efforts on goal teams are taking reveal a remarkable 370 fewer in open-play than this time last season.

Regardless of the significant rise in dead-ball scores, there have actually been just two more shots generated from them excluding spot-kicks, showing the proficiency teams are at devising strategies to score from set-pieces.

Goal Statistics Tell the Tale

301 total goals scored in 110 games so far works out at nearly 2.75 goals per game, if this persists for all 38 games could be the smallest for half a decade, back in 2020-21 (2.69).

However, only 196 scores scored in open-play translates to 1.78 each match and is on course to be the least for since 2009-10, back in 2009-10 (1.76 per game).

2009-10 also marks the unique EPL season to experience scoring more often from set-plays excluding penalties than this campaign's frequency of 0.77 per fixture (0.79 average).

What Clubs Account for This Change?

In terms of goals scored from open play, Wolves have seen the most significant decline, scoring only four in 11 games, 10 fewer than this point last season.

Apart from Wolverhampton, the Premier League's drop in open-play scoring is largely a London phenomenon, with half of the capital's seven sides scoring a minimum of five fewer goals from open-play than the prior season.

In fairness, this is mainly because them netting numerous goals at the beginning of the previous campaign rather than them really struggling to find the net in open-play this campaign.

Conversely Man City have recorded the most significant jump, with nearly all of their 23 goals so far originating in open-play.

Set-Play Proficiency

Comparing newly promoted sides with the relegated sides they replaced. Sunderland the Black Cats have netted three more scores in open play than the Saints did in their first 11 games leading to demotion last season.

In terms of scoring from dead-ball situations (aside from penalties), Arsenal and Chelsea have experienced the largest rise, with both sides making up for the reduction of five goals that they've netted in open play with the same number from dead-ball chances.

Manchester United have netted twice as many goals from set-plays as they managed in matchday 11 the previous campaign before their coach took over, while Sunderland additionally are more successful at netting than the club they replaced that went down.

City don't seem to have got the message about scoring more from set-plays, because they've recorded a reduction of three than the previous campaign, similar to the Reds, though that might be down to the change in style they have tried to implement.

League-Wide Trends

Six sides – Arsenal, Chelsea, Fulham, Newcastle, Spurs and West Ham – are the current campaign's primary examples by scoring fewer scores from open-play and increased from set-plays, while City are the only side to go against the grain up to now by doing the contrary.

It will be fascinating to watch if sides carry on to rely so heavily on set-plays as the season goes on or if they find again their overall inventiveness and commence converting additional scores in open play too.