Where Has the Excitement Gone? The Decline of Open-Play Goal Scoring
One of the biggest stories of England's top flight this campaign concerns the reduction of goals scored in open play and how sides have been scoring more from set-pieces as an alternative.
Looking at scoring methods to the initial 11 matches the prior season, we see a drop of 39 goals in open-play and 26 more from set-plays and spot-kicks, leading to 13 fewer altogether.
Examining the bigger picture, efforts on goal teams are taking show a remarkable drop of 370 in open play than at this stage last time out.
And despite the notable jump in set-piece goals, records show only two additional attempts produced from these situations excluding penalties, demonstrating the efficiency teams are at discovering methods to net from dead-ball chances.
Scoring Rates Show an Interesting Narrative
Over 300 goals recorded in 110 matches so far works out at 2.74 goals per fixture, if maintained for the whole season would be the lowest for five years, back in 2020-21 (2.69 average).
However, only 196 goals scored in open play translates to 1.78 per game and is on course to be the lowest for since 2009-10, from 16 years ago (1.76).
2009-10 additionally represents the only Premier League season to experience scoring more frequently from set-plays excluding penalties than this campaign's frequency of 0.77 per game (0.79).
Which Sides Bear the Most Responsibility?
When it comes to scoring from open play, Wolverhampton Wanderers have experienced the most significant drop, scoring a mere four in 11 games, 10 fewer than at this stage last season.
Excluding Wolverhampton, the EPL's fall in open play goals is very much a London phenomenon, with half of the London's seven clubs recording at least five less scores from open play than last season.
To be fair, that's largely down to them netting many scores at the beginning of last season as opposed to them having difficulty to score in open-play this season.
Meanwhile City have experienced the largest rise, with almost every one of their 23 scores this season coming in open play.
Set-Play Proficiency
We've compared newly promoted sides with the teams that went down that they superseded. Sunderland the Black Cats have recorded three more goals in open play than the Saints managed in their opening 11 matches on their way to demotion last season.
Regarding goals scored from set-pieces (excluding penalties), the Gunners and Chelsea have seen the biggest increase, with the two clubs making up for the five less scores that they've netted in open-play with the same number from set-pieces.
Manchester United have recorded two times more scores from set-pieces as they achieved in the 11 games the previous campaign ahead of the manager took over, while Sunderland once more are more effective at scoring than the fellow red-and-whites that went down.
City don't seem to have got the message about netting additional goals from set-pieces, since they've recorded three fewer than the previous campaign, as have Forest, although that might be down to the altered approach they're working to install.
Overall Patterns
Six teams – the Gunners, the Blues, the Cottagers, the Magpies, Tottenham and the Hammers – have been this term's leading trend-followers by recording fewer scores from open play and more from set-plays, while City represent the sole team to buck the trend up to now by performing the complete reverse.
It will be fascinating to watch if sides carry on to rely so heavily on set-pieces as the season goes on or if they rediscover their overall inventiveness and begin converting additional scores in open-play also.