Is the Entertainment Fading? The Fall of Open-Play Goal Scoring

A major talking point of the EPL season so far concerns the decline of scoring in open-play scenarios and how clubs have been scoring increasingly from dead-ball situations as an alternative.

When we compare how goals have been scored to matchday 11 the prior season, we note 39 fewer scored in open play and 26 more from team set-pieces and spot-kicks, giving us 13 fewer altogether.

Examining overall statistics, shot attempts clubs are making reveal a remarkable drop of 370 in open-play than this time last season.

Regardless of the significant rise in dead-ball scores, there have actually been a mere two extra attempts generated from them outside of spot-kicks, indicating the proficiency sides have been at discovering methods to convert from set-pieces.

Goal Averages Tell a Story

Over 300 goals recorded in the first 110 fixtures so far works out at 2.74 scores each match, if maintained for the whole season could be the lowest for five years, back in 2020-21 (2.69 average).

However, only 196 scores scored in open-play translates to 1.78 per fixture and is on course to be the smallest for since 2009-10, back in 2009-10 (1.76 average).

The 2009-10 season additionally represents the unique EPL campaign to see scoring more frequently from set-plays excluding penalties than this season's rate of 0.77 each match (0.79 per game).

Which Teams Are Most Responsible?

In terms of goals scored from open play, Wolves have seen by far the biggest drop, scoring only four in 11 games, 10 less than at this stage last season.

Outside of Wolverhampton, England's top division's drop in open play goals is very much a London thing, with five out of the London's seven clubs netting a minimum of five fewer goals from open-play than the previous year.

To be fair, this is mainly because them scoring numerous scores at the start of the previous campaign as opposed to them having difficulty to convert in open-play this season.

Conversely City have experienced the largest rise, with all but one of their 23 scores to date originating in open play.

Set-Piece Success

We've compared the promoted teams with the teams that went down they took the place of. Sunderland the Black Cats have netted three more goals in open play than Southampton achieved in matchday 11 leading to the drop last season.

In terms of scoring from dead-ball situations (excluding penalties), the Gunners and Chelsea have seen the biggest increase, with each team compensating for the five fewer goals that they've netted in open-play with the same number from set-pieces.

Manchester United have recorded double the number scores from set-plays as they did in the 11 games last season before their coach assumed control, while the Black Cats additionally are more effective at netting than the fellow red-and-whites they replaced.

Manchester City appear not to have received the memo about increasing scoring from set-plays, since they've netted a reduction of three than the previous campaign, similar to Nottingham Forest, though that might be down to the altered approach they have tried to implement.

General Tendencies

Six clubs – the Gunners, Chelsea, Fulham, Newcastle, Tottenham and West Ham – represent this season's top trend-setters by netting less scores from open play and additional from set-plays, while City represent the only side to defy the pattern to date by achieving the exact opposite.

It will be interesting to observe if clubs continue to place such emphasis on set-plays as the season goes on or if they find again their all-round creativity and start scoring more goals in open play also.