Arsenal were set-piece kings last season, so why have they stopped scoring from set-pieces? Between the Lines explains

21.10.2026, 11:08 skysports.com

Arsenal scored a Premier League-high 25 non-penalty set-piece goals on their way to winning the title last season. But have 'Set-piece FC' lost their not-so-secret edge?

Seven games into the new campaign, the Gunners are one of only four sides, along with Liverpool, Manchester United and Nottingham Forest, yet to score a non-penalty set-piece goal.

Arsenal's total last season included a record 19 from corners and made it five straight Premier League seasons in which they have scored at least 15 non-penalty set-piece goals.

The improvement coincided with addition of Nicolas Jover to their backroom staff in 2021. The set-piece coach has been described as a "genius" and remains an active presence on the touchline.

So why have the set-piece goals dried up? Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta put it down to luck in comments made earlier this month.

"My personal opinion is that we've done better things than last year in the first five games, but we have scored no goals. I think that's the reality of set-pieces. Sometimes we score a goal, or they score an own goal, and it's a set-piece goal, but we didn't do things well.

"It's an element of luck sometimes and I think this season we should have scored four and we haven't. So, if we maintain that, I think throughout the season we'll be in really good numbers, especially if we generate the amount of situations that we do."

Arteta had a point on Arsenal's wastefulness. According to Opta, they rank as one of the Premier League's biggest underperformers relative to their set-piece expected goals this season.

The underlying data shows the Gunners have had set-piece chances worth 2.50 expected goals. Only Liverpool and Nottingham Forest have underperformed by a bigger margin.

There were examples during Sunday's win at the City Ground, where Kai Havertz and Gabriel Magalhaes headed good set-piece chances over the bar from Declan Rice deliveries.

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Earlier this season, Riccardo Calafiori missed an excellent chance from a Martin Odegaard free-kick against Chelsea. There was another notable opportunity against Aston Villa, when Zion Suzuki saved Rice's header from a Bukayo Saka corner.

It was a different story last season, when Arsenal ranked at the other end of the scale for expected goal performance, scoring nearly four goals more than expected, based on chance quality.

Arteta believes their luck will turn soon. The underlying data offers encouragement on that front. But like all sides, Arsenal are also having to adapt to the Premier League's clampdown on grappling, holding and blocking from corners this season.

The guidance to referees was intended to make the game easier to officiate and stop players from gaining an advantage by impeding opponents rather than playing the ball. One consequence is a higher percentage of corners leading to free-kicks for defending teams.

"You have to adjust to the rules and what is allowed and what is not," said Arteta. "But that opens another window to do things that we want to do. Sometimes you have to give credit to the opponent as well. They defend better, they put more attention on that."

The clampdown may have impacted effectiveness. But Arsenal's corner delivery has mostly stayed consistent. While they have taken 15 per cent of their corners short, up from nine per cent last term, all of those short corners came on the opening day against Coventry.

Arsenal continue to send the majority of their corners into the six-yard box, albeit a higher percentage to the near post than last season, and a lower percentage directly onto the goalkeeper, who is now receiving more protection from officials.

While Arsenal are offering much more of a threat from set-pieces than their goal total suggests, their underlying numbers compared to last season do show a fairly significant drop-off, from 0.56 set-piece expected goals per game to 0.36 per game.

But another factor is that they are simply getting fewer corners.

Arsenal's average of 4.7 per game, seven games into the season, is lower than in any of the previous nine campaigns.

It represents a 17 per cent decrease from last season, when they averaged 5.7, and a roughly 30 per cent decrease from the two seasons before that, when they averaged nearly seven.

A return to a more typical volume of corners, coupled with some better finishing, could transform Arsenal's set-piece scoring output. But Arteta has talked up the importance of scoring in "many ways" and in the meantime they are showing improvement in open play.

There was little evidence of it against Nottingham Forest on Sunday, admittedly. Arsenal laboured before Noni Madueke's late winner. But overall this season there has been a shift towards possession and passing. Arsenal are scoring and creating more in open play.

More improvement will be required if they are to make up the shortfall entirely given a chunky 37 per cent of their goals came from non-penalty set-piece goals last season.

But Arsenal's dead-ball threat has not disappeared.

The evidence points to the goals returning soon - albeit not, perhaps, to the record-breaking levels of last season.

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