The Importance of Set-Pieces in the Premier League.

Karan Ahgun

— 3 min read
The Importance of Set-Pieces in the Premier League.

The story of this season so far has definitely been the prominence of set-pieces in Premier League matches. League leaders Arsenal have been dominant from set-pieces but other teams are starting to put more emphasis on them as their influence increases more and more. So is this going to be a short-term trend or will teams keep placing great importance in set-pieces?

There has long been a sense of football snobbery around teams who put a big focus on scoring from set-pieces but that has changed in the past couple of seasons. The importance of set-pieces this season, especially corner kicks, can be highlighted by the fact that the percentage of total goals across the Premier League from corners is the highest it's ever been at this stage. That number stands at 18.7% currently. As mentioned before, Arsenal are the pre-eminent team when it comes to scoring from set-pieces, especially from corners. The Gunners can be seen as set-piece innovators in the past couple of seasons because of the sheer amount of success they've had from these opportunities. There were also points within this time period where it felt like we were seeing Arsenal's set-piece coach, Nicolas Jover, on the touchline more than we were seeing Mikel Arteta. Arsenal's success at set-pieces has been so successful that other Premier League teams tried to imitate their routines, with the most noticeable one being when all players would hang around the back post before moving to their assigned zones as the corner would get taken.

Alongside the dominance of set-pieces, the long-throw is back in fashion this season. Long-throws had been a thing of the past, and were popularised by Rory Delap at Stoke City in the late 2000s/early 2010s, but alongside the popularity of set-pieces, long-throws have posed a different challenge for Premier League defences. Brentford are the team who have used this throwback tactic most effectively. Michael Kayode has been launching missiles into the opposition box all season, and they have reaped the rewards of that - most recently in Brentford's win against Liverpool. But Brentford aren't the only side who have benefitted from employing the long-throw when they are attacking. Recent examples of success include Wilson Isidor's equaliser against Chelsea and Benjamin Sesko's goal against Sunderland. The main advantage of using the long-throw - especially if the team has someone who can launch the ball deep into the box - is the chaos that it can cause in the opposition box and there are opportunities to make chances even if you don't make first contact. Premier League teams with a higher level of physicality are the main beneficiaries of these throwback tactics, and it remains to be seen how long they are back here to stay.

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