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A major talking point of the EPL this campaign has been the drop of scoring in open play and how clubs are finding goals more from set-pieces as an alternative.

When we compare goal sources to the initial 11 matches the prior season, there have been a drop of 39 goals in open play and 26 more from set-plays and penalties, resulting in 13 fewer altogether.

Examining overall statistics, shot attempts teams are taking reveal a staggering 370 fewer in open play than this time last time out.

Regardless of the big increase in dead-ball scores, there have actually been only two additional attempts created from these situations outside of penalties, indicating how effective sides are at discovering methods to score from set-pieces.

Goal Averages Tell an Interesting Narrative

The 301 goals notched in 110 matches to date calculates at 2.74 goals each match, if maintained for the whole season would be the least for half a decade, back in 2020-21 (2.69).

Yet merely 196 goals scored in open play equates to 1.78 each match and is heading to be the smallest for 16 years, back in 2009-10 (1.76 average).

2009-10 is also the only Premier League season to see scoring at a higher rate from dead-balls without spot-kicks than this campaign's frequency of 0.77 per game (0.79).

What Clubs Bear the Most Responsibility?

Regarding scoring from open play, Wolves have seen the largest decline, registering only four in 11 matches, 10 less than this point the previous campaign.

Apart from Wolves, England's top division's drop in open-play scoring is largely a London thing, with five out of the London's seven clubs recording at least five less scores from open play than the prior season.

In fairness, this is mainly because their scoring many scores at the beginning of the previous campaign instead of them having difficulty to score in open play this season.

At the same time City have seen the biggest increase, with all but one of their 23 scores to date arriving in open-play.

Set-Play Proficiency

Looking at newly promoted sides with those that were relegated they replaced. Play-off champions the Black Cats have netted three more scores in open-play than Southampton did in their first 11 games leading to relegation the previous campaign.

When it comes to scoring from dead-ball situations (not counting penalties), the Gunners and Chelsea have experienced the largest rise, with each team making up for the five fewer scores that they've scored in open-play with identical figures from set-pieces.

Man United have recorded two times more goals from set-pieces as they did in the 11 games the previous campaign ahead of the manager assumed control, while the Black Cats again are more successful at scoring than the club they replaced that went down.

Man City appear not to have received the memo about scoring more from set-plays, since they've scored three fewer than the previous campaign, like Forest, even if that might be down to the change in style they've attempted to adopt.

General Tendencies

Six clubs – Arsenal, the Blues, Fulham, Newcastle, Tottenham and the Hammers – have been the current campaign's primary examples by netting less goals from open-play and additional from set-pieces, while City represent the sole team to defy the pattern up to now by performing the contrary.

It will be interesting to observe if sides persist to rely so heavily on set-plays as the campaign progresses or if they find again their overall inventiveness and begin netting increased totals in open play also.