Arsenal Set To Break Premier League Set-Piece History If They Land Title | OneFootball

Arsenal are on course to be the highest-scoring team from corner kicks to win a Premier League title.

Arsenal’s 16 goals from corners in the Premier League this season is the joint-most by any side in a single campaign, alongside Oldham in 1992-93, West Brom in 2016-17, and the Gunners themselves in 2023-24.

Mikel Arteta’s side is five points clear at the top of the table, with just nine games of the domestic season remaining. Is this football sustainable long term, and is Arteta really fixated on this dead-ball approach, labelled by many as ‘boring’?

Boring Arsenal?

Arsenal are the Premier League’s top scorers, have the highest xG, and have conceded the fewest goals, but a staggering 27% of their 58 Premier League goals have come from set pieces.

Of course, it doesn’t matter how they go in, but Arsenal are clearly a side dependent on dead-ball situations to win matches.

In Sunday’s match against Chelsea, the Gunners would have lost the game without their set-piece goals, where just 0.59 of their 1.13 xG against the Blues came from open play.

Arsenal defender and match-winner Jurrien Timber on the game being defined by corners: “Both sides, it became an important part of the game. Today we came out well and overall we played a good game. We took the three points and then an important game on Wednesday [against Brighton] again.” [Sky Sports]

But is this all part of Arteta’s masterplan?

Is This Really the Plan?

Asked when he realised set-pieces would be such a pivotal part of his approach, Arteta said in a recent press conference: “Ten years ago. I wasn’t here but 10 years ago, I said ‘it is a massive thing to do that’ and I started to have a vision, try to implement a method and try to be surrounded by the best people to deliver that.”

“But [I am] not only obsessive about that, I am the same in the defensive part, in transition, I want to be the best when it comes to chaos, I want to be the best when it comes to positional attacks, the best when it comes to low blocks.

“That’s the eagerness to constantly find ways to develop your team and give your players to be more unpredictable and especially more efficient.”

Many football critics have criticised Arteta’s approach, labelling it boring. How are you supposed to get the most out of players of Ebere Eze’s ilk with this kind of football?

But the Spaniard has always stuck by his philosophies, especially since becoming Arsenal boss – and this isn’t one he is going to back down on any time soon.

Arsenal have gone 1-0 up from a corner on nine occasions in the top flight this season – in Premier League history, only Southampton in 1994/95 have matched that feat.

While the footballing world criticises, one thing’s for sure – it’s working for Arsenal. The Gunners are on course to be the highest-scoring team from corner kicks to win a Premier League title.

Unless somebody finds a way of counter-acting their dead-ball genius, Gabriel and Jurrien Timber’s frequent attacking contributions are going nowhere anytime soon.