In traditional football set pieces — free kicks, penalties, corners, and long throw-ins — were looked upon as escape routes for weaker teams, who cannot compete with the skillset of the big outfits and hence sharpened this tactic to somehow stave off relegation and stay in the top flight. Not anymore. Methods that were once popularised in the English Premier League (EPL) by the likes of Tony Pulis’s (Stoke City) and Sam Allardyce’s (Bolton Wanderers) underdog sides, are now at the forefront of a revolution, with top clubs like Arsenal making set pieces count.
Mikel Arteta’s side, who are leading the EPL table after nine games (22 points), have scored an astonishing 68.75 per cent (11 out of 16) of their goals this season from set pieces. Arteta has claimed that the recent surge in set piece supremacy is down to improvements in coaching, player athleticism, and the general standard of teams in the EPL being much higher than past iterations.
“We are noticing a shift. The moment the physicality [of the league] increases, and teams become more efficient [in defence], the game is more difficult to play since you can constrain spaces. You have to find different ways to score, and that’s what everybody is trying to do,” said Arteta, following last weekend’s 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace.
Interestingly, it isn’t just the table-toppers, who are focusing on set pieces to achieve success. The rest of the league is following suit too. The 2025-26 season has seen the highest percentage of goals scored from corners in EPL history (45 out of 241 goals; 18.7 per cent). Additionally, teams such as Brentford have become the masters of the long throw-ins — they have scored eight of their 13 goals using this tactic. Even excluding penalties, the percentage of set-piece goals scored in this EPL campaign (27.80 per cent) is way above the league’s average since the 2015-16 season (21.65 per cent).
Ahead of Manchester City’s EFL Cup game against Swansea on Wednesday, Pep Guardiola paid tribute to some of the original trendsetters of the set piece tactic and admitted that he too wants to see his side be more of a threat from non-open play situations. “I remember a long time ago with Sean Dyche, Burnley were an incredible threat [from set pieces], even Sam Allardyce and also Stoke City. Every manager does what they believe. I’m focused on that, [but] I want to score from free-kicks and corners — I’m not naive, I want it,” said Guardiola.
Gunners gainers
68.75
Percentage of EPL goals Arsenal have scored from set pieces this season
Brentford’s brilliance
61.53
Percentage of goals scored by Brentford from long throw-ins this season
Different strokes
6.15
Percentage difference between EPL goals scored from set pieces this season (27.80) and the league avg since 2015-16 (21.65)
Corners crucial
18.7
Percentage of EPL goals scored from corners in 2025-26 season; the highest in the league’s history
