Where Has the Excitement Gone? This Decline of the Goal Scoring
One of the biggest stories of England's top flight this campaign is the drop of goals scored in open play and how teams have been scoring more from dead-ball situations as an alternative.
Looking at goal sources to the first 11 games last season, there have been 39 fewer scored in open play and 26 more from set-plays and penalties, giving us 13 less overall.
Examining the bigger picture, the number of shots sides are producing have seen a remarkable drop of 370 in open play than this time previously.
Regardless of the big increase in set-play finishes, there have actually been just two more shots generated from these situations excluding spot-kicks, indicating the proficiency clubs are at discovering methods to convert from set-pieces.
Scoring Rates Show a Story
The 301 goals notched in 110 matches so far works out at 2.74 goals each match, if this persists for all 38 games could be the lowest for five years, from five seasons ago (2.69 average).
However, only under 200 goals coming in open-play equates to 1.78 each match and is on course to be the lowest for since 2009-10, from 16 years ago (1.76 average).
2009-10 is also the only Premier League season to witness scoring more frequently from set-plays excluding penalties than this campaign's frequency of 0.77 per fixture (0.79).
Which Sides Are Most Responsible?
In terms of scoring from open-play, Wolverhampton Wanderers have experienced the most significant decrease, netting just four in their first 11 fixtures, 10 fewer than this point last season.
Outside of Wolves, the Premier League's drop in open-play scoring is predominantly a London phenomenon, with half of the London's seven clubs scoring five or more less scores from open play than the prior season.
To be fair, this is primarily due to them scoring lots of scores at the early stages of the previous campaign as opposed to their genuine struggle to score in open play the current term.
At the same time Man City have seen the biggest increase, with nearly all of their 23 scores this season coming in open play.
Dead-Ball Dominance
Comparing newly promoted sides with those that were relegated that they superseded. Play-off winners Sunderland have scored three more goals in open play than Southampton achieved in their opening 11 matches en route to the drop the previous campaign.
When it comes to scoring from set-plays (aside from penalties), the Gunners and Chelsea have seen the largest rise, with the two clubs compensating for the five fewer goals that they've produced in open play with an equal amount from dead-ball chances.
United have scored double the number scores from set-pieces as they managed in the first 11 matches last season ahead of their coach took charge, while Sunderland again are better at netting than the club they replaced they superseded.
Man City appear not to have received the memo about increasing scoring from set-pieces, because they've recorded three fewer than last season, like Nottingham Forest, although this could be because of the altered approach they have tried to implement.
Overall Patterns
Six teams – Arsenal, Chelsea, Fulham, Newcastle, Spurs and West Ham – represent the current campaign's primary examples by netting less goals from open play and additional from set-plays, while City are the unique club to defy the pattern up to now by performing the contrary.
It will be interesting to watch if clubs carry on to depend greatly on set-plays as matches continue or if they rediscover their overall inventiveness and commence scoring more goals in open-play as well.
