One of the biggest stories of England's top flight season so far is the decline of goals scored in open-play scenarios and the way clubs are finding goals increasingly from dead-ball situations as an alternative.
Comparing how goals have been scored to matchday 11 the prior season, we see a drop of 39 scored in open-play and 26 more from team set-pieces and spot-kicks, giving us 13 fewer in total.
Examining overall statistics, shot attempts sides are producing show a remarkable drop of 370 in open-play than at this stage last time out.
And despite the big increase in dead-ball scores, there have actually been only two additional shots generated from them outside of spot-kicks, showing the proficiency sides are at discovering methods to score from set-pieces.
Scoring Rates Reveal an Interesting Narrative
Over 300 goals notched in 110 matches so far calculates at nearly 2.75 goals per fixture, if maintained for the entire campaign would be the least for five years, from five seasons ago (2.69 average).
But just 196 goals scored in open play equates to 1.78 per fixture and is heading to be the least for since 2009-10, since 2009-10 (1.76 average).
That campaign additionally represents the only Premier League season to experience goals scored more often from set-plays excluding penalties than this season's rate of 0.77 each match (0.79 average).
What Clubs Are Most Responsible?
In terms of goals scored from open-play, Wolverhampton Wanderers have experienced by far the biggest drop, registering a mere four in their first 11 fixtures, 10 fewer than this point the previous campaign.
Outside of Wolves, the EPL's fall in open-play scoring is predominantly a trend among London clubs, with half of the city's seven teams scoring a minimum of five goals fewer from open-play than the prior season.
Honestly, this is mainly because their scoring many goals at the early stages of last season instead of their genuine struggle to find the net in open-play this campaign.
Conversely City have recorded the largest rise, with all but one of the 23 they've scored so far arriving in open-play.
Set-Piece Success
We've compared clubs that came up with the relegated sides that they superseded. Play-off winners the Black Cats have netted three more scores in open-play than Southampton achieved in matchday 11 en route to demotion the previous campaign.
In terms of goals scored from dead-ball situations (aside from spot-kicks), the Gunners and Chelsea have seen the biggest increase, with each team making up for the reduction of five goals that they've produced in open-play with an equal amount from dead-ball situations.
Man United have scored double the number scores from set-plays as they did in matchday 11 the previous campaign prior to Ruben Amorim assumed control, while the Black Cats once more have been more effective at scoring than the fellow red-and-whites that went down.
Man City appear not to have received the message about scoring more from set-plays, since they've netted three fewer than last season, similar to Forest, although that might be down to the change in style they're working to install.
League-Wide Trends
Six clubs – the Gunners, Chelsea, the Cottagers, the Magpies, Spurs and the Hammers – have been this term's leading trend-followers by recording fewer goals from open-play and additional from set-pieces, while Manchester City stand as the only side to defy the pattern so far by performing the exact opposite.
It will be fascinating to see if clubs persist to depend greatly on set-plays as matches continue or if they regain their general attacking flair and start converting more goals in open-play also.
