Are You Not Being Entertained? This Drop of the Goals from Open Play
A major talking point of the Premier League season so far has been the reduction of scoring in open play and the way clubs are finding goals increasingly from set-plays as an alternative.
When we compare scoring methods to matchday 11 last season, there have been 39 fewer scored in open play and 26 more from set-plays and penalties, giving us 13 less in total.
Considering the broader view, efforts on goal clubs are making show an incredible 370 fewer in open-play than this time last season.
Even with the notable jump in set-piece goals, there have actually been only two additional shots generated from these situations outside of spot-kicks, demonstrating the efficiency clubs have been at finding ways to score from dead-ball chances.
Scoring Rates Reveal an Interesting Narrative
Over 300 goals recorded in the first 110 fixtures up to now calculates at 2.74 goals per fixture, if this persists for the whole season could be the least for five years, from five seasons ago (2.69).
But just 196 goals scored in open play equates to 1.78 per fixture and is on course to be the smallest for 16 seasons, from 16 years ago (1.76 per game).
The 2009-10 season is also the unique EPL season to see scoring more frequently from dead-balls without spot-kicks than this season's rate of 0.77 each match (0.79 per game).
What Clubs Account for This Change?
Regarding goals scored from open play, Wolverhampton Wanderers have seen the most significant drop, scoring just four in their first 11 fixtures, a reduction of 10 than this point last season.
Apart from Wolves, the Premier League's decline in open-play scoring is very much a London phenomenon, with five out of the city's seven teams recording five or more fewer goals from open-play than the prior season.
Honestly, this is primarily due to them scoring lots of goals at the beginning of the previous campaign instead of them having difficulty to score in open play this season.
Meanwhile Man City have experienced the largest rise, with almost every one of the 23 they've scored this season coming in open play.
Dead-Ball Dominance
Comparing newly promoted sides with the relegated sides they took the place of. Sunderland the Black Cats have recorded an additional three scores in open-play than the Saints did in matchday 11 leading to demotion the previous campaign.
Regarding scoring from set-pieces (excluding spot-kicks), the Gunners and the Blues have seen the largest rise, with both sides making up for the five less goals that they've scored in open play with identical figures from dead-ball chances.
Man United have recorded two times more goals from set-plays as they did in the first 11 matches last season prior to the manager assumed control, while Sunderland again have been more effective at converting than the fellow red-and-whites that went down.
City appear not to have received the memo about netting additional goals from set-plays, since they've recorded three fewer than the previous campaign, similar to Nottingham Forest, although that might be down to the tactical shift they're working to install.
League-Wide Trends
Six sides – the Gunners, the Blues, Fulham, Newcastle, Spurs and the Hammers – represent this term's top trend-setters by scoring fewer scores from open play and additional from set-pieces, while Man City stand as the unique club to buck the trend so far by doing the exact opposite.
It will be fascinating to observe if sides carry on to place such emphasis on set-plays as the campaign progresses or if they rediscover their all-round creativity and start scoring more goals in open play as well.