Arsenal have conceded the greatest proportion of goals from set-pieces among all Premier League clubs this season, but does that really mean it’s a key weakness of theirs?
It was a sight that took many of us back a few years. Bournemouth‘s Antoine Semenyo launched a throw-in into the Arsenal box at the Emirates Stadium, and Dean Huijsen glanced the ball beyond David Raya to make it 1-1.
Such goals are something of a novelty these days, though there’ll be plenty of people out there who were instantly reminded of Rory Delap’s speciality while at Stoke City back in the day.
The Republic of Ireland international became so renowned for the threat his long throws posed that the fear sparked one of the most curiously amusing moments in Premier League history. In November 2008, Hull City goalkeeper Boaz Myhill found himself under intense pressure with no passing route out. To most of us, his only safe option was to clear it out for a throw-in, because that’s just what you do; but he quickly remembered they were playing Stoke, so he took the novel approach of punting it out for a corner instead.
Anyone of a certain vintage will no doubt be gleefully muttering “pure Barclays” or something similar after watching that video back.
Interestingly, though, Huijsen’s wasn’t the only goal scored from a throw-in in the Premier League last weekend. Brentford netted their fifth throw-in goal of the season in Sunday’s 4-3 win over Manchester United, as Michael Kayode’s delivery led to a Mikkel Damsgaard shot that was diverted into his own net by Luke Shaw.
Halcyon days, indeed.
Of course, set-pieces in general have been enjoying something of a renaissance over the past couple of years, as we’ve noted before, harking back to days when they were a regular source of goals.
Arsenal have played a big role in that, but Sunday’s defeat put the spotlight on them in a manner that hasn’t happened all too often in recent seasons…
Which Teams Are Most Susceptible at Set-Pieces?
Bournemouth’s eventual winner against Arsenal also came from a dead-ball situation, with Evanilson bundling in from close range at the back post after a corner was flicked in the direction of his passionate embrace/wrestling match with Martin Ødegaard.
It meant the unofficial kings of set-pieces lost a game due to both goals being conceded at set-plays. What made this even more noteworthy was the previously little-known fact that the Gunners have conceded the greatest proportion of goals from dead-ball situations in the Premier League this term.
Including own goals, 38.7% of Arsenal’s goals conceded in the Premier League this term have come from set-pieces (excluding penalties).
Now, some might be quick to suggest that Arsenal are at a disadvantage there because their 31 goals conceded overall is actually the lowest in the top flight. That’s a fair gripe. However, when looking just at the top-line numbers, the Gunners’ record doesn’t look much better.
They’ve conceded 12 goals from set-pieces this term. The only Premier League teams to let in more are Wolves (21), Southampton (19), Manchester United (15) and Ipswich Town (13), so two of the relegated teams, another who’ve battled against relegation most of the season, and the poorest Man Utd side in a generation.
Arsenal’s 12 goal concessions from set-pieces is equal to that of Tottenham, whose 57 goals conceded in total is the third worst of the top-flight teams who won’t be relegated.
So, while it’s arguable that looking at the proportion of goals conceded from set-pieces might make Arsenal appear slightly worse than they are, it’s also fair to suggest they’ve been one of the most susceptible to conceding goals at set-pieces.
But is there more than meets the eye?
Which Teams Are Most Susceptible From Corners?
The majority of Arsenal’s goal concessions from set-pieces have come at corners – seven of them, to be precise.
But it’s not like Arsenal have a huge problem in general when it comes to dealing with corner deliveries. For instance, their opponents only find a teammate from a crossed corner delivery 26.2% of the time; that’s the fourth-lowest proportion.
Similarly, their opponents have managed to record a shot against Arsenal with their first involvement (the first touch) following a corner just 13.6% of the time. Again, that’s the fourth lowest in the Premier League this term.
As a result, Arsenal’s goals conceded from a first involvement at corners is just one, a figure only Leicester City and Aston Villa can improve on.
Excluding those first-involvement goals, then, Arsenal’s six goals conceded at corners is the fourth worst, with only Man Utd (8), Ipswich and Southampton (both 7) letting in more.
The difference between the two figures for Arsenal suggests teams have tried to adapt their routines because they know Mikel Arteta’s men are pretty effective at dealing with crosses into the danger area.
For instance, each of the two corner goals Bournemouth have scored against Arsenal this season involved near-post flick-ons, one to the back post and one to the edge of the box. Liverpool also scored via a near-post flick-on and Crystal Palace netted from a delivery out to Eberechi Eze on the 18-yard line.
Similarly, the goal conceded at Bournemouth in October, the late equaliser vs Manchester City in September, Son Heung-min’s effort in January’s north London derby, and Eze’s strike all raise questions over the space Arsenal leave between the penalty spot and the edge of the area.
Nevertheless, broadly speaking, Arsenal don’t give up a huge amount of attempts at corners.
Man City are a notable case as exactly 25% of their corners faced see their opponents get a shot away with the first touch; the only other team to be over 20% in that metric are Crystal Palace (24.2%).
Linked to that, City also see 45% of their corners against lead to at least one shot; that too is a greater proportion than any other side in the Premier League.
This contributes to City’s opponents recording 4.03 xG assisted against them directly from corner deliveries, which is the most in the top flight despite seeing around the league average for shots at the first contact from a corner (30). This also means the average xG assisted value per shot of the attempts City face direct from corners (0.13) is the highest in the division.
Wolves, Southampton, Man Utd and Ipswich deserve special mention, though. They’re the four teams in double digits for goals conceded at corners this term.
United (6.7%), Wolves (5.7%) and Southampton (5.1%) rank second, third and fourth respectively for proportion of corners faced leading to goals. Having said that, Wolves have only conceded two such goals since the turn of the year, suggesting new manager Vítor Pereira – appointed on 19 December – has addressed a weakness that plagued them in the first half of the season.
At the other end of the spectrum, Aston Villa have conceded the fewest goals (2) from corners this term. This is potentially down to them being especially effective at dealing with direct deliveries into the box.
After all, their opponents only find a teammate with 36.3% of their initial corner-kicks, the smallest proportion in the league, while only 13.6% see the opposition register a shot with their first involvement.
In fact, each of their two goals conceded at corners actually came when the ball was hooked back into the box after the initial deliveries were cleared.
Which Teams Are Most Susceptible From Indirect Free-Kicks?
Analysing susceptibility at free-kick situations is a bit trickier because a free-kick could be taken almost anywhere on the pitch, and in that respect there are far more variables to consider.
For instance, if we wanted to look at the proportion of all indirect free-kicks leading to a shot, that would assume all incidents are equal when they obviously aren’t. One given to your team on the edge of your own area is rather different to on the edge of the opposition’s area.
So, we’ve chosen to only consider indirect free-kicks awarded in the attacking half of the pitch, though you should still take any findings with a pinch of salt.
First of all, then, having arguably been the sturdiest when it comes to defending corners, Aston Villa have actually conceded the most goals (5) from indirect free-kicks conceded in their own half.
That equates to 3.5% of their overall indirect free-kicks conceded in their own half (142), which is also the greatest proportion of all Premier League teams this season.
Fulham have faced the most shots (34) following indirect free-kicks conceded in their own half, though those have only led to two goals, a proportion of 1.2% (2/171) – just four clubs have better records than that.
The team to have seen the greatest proportion of these free-kicks lead to a shot faced are Liverpool. They’ve conceded 119 qualifying indirect free-kicks and those have yielded 24 attempts (20.2%).
Four of the 24 shots were goals, or 3.4% of their overall count of indirect free-kicks conceded in their own half – that’s the second greatest after Fulham.
The only teams yet to let in a goal from indirect free-kicks conceded in their own half are Manchester City and Brentford.
Looking more broadly at goals conceded from all free-kicks – meaning both indirect and direct – Wolves are out in front (7), followed by Palace (6), Southampton, Liverpool and Villa (all on 5).
Three of Wolves’ came in a single game.
In fact, all four of the goals they conceded in the 4-0 loss to Everton in December came via set-pieces. Two followed right-wing deliveries from Dwight McNeil, Ashley Young scored direct from a free-kick, and they also scored from a corner.
Man City (1) are the only team to have let in fewer than two goals from all free-kick situations.
Which Teams Are Most Susceptible From Throw-Ins?
A truly in-depth analysis of throw-ins is difficult in a similar way to free-kicks. Nevertheless, it’s still possible to provide some insights into a part of the game that is rarely focused on.
As mentioned before, this past weekend saw two goals stemming from throw-ins.
When you read/hear that out loud, it probably sounds pretty unusual, but it’s not actually the first time this season that a single matchday has yielded multiple goal-ending throw-ins.
On 31 August and 1 September, Yoane Wissa of Brentford and Newcastle’s Harvey Barnes each scored from situations that began with throw-ins. And on 9 and 10 November, Wissa (again) and Man Utd’s Bruno Fernandes got goals in a similar manner.
Brentford (5) and Ipswich (2) are the only teams this term to score more than once from moves starting with a throw-in, but four teams have conceded two or more from such set-plays.
Bournemouth (3) and Southampton (3) have the dubious honour of leading the way here, followed by Wolves (2) and Spurs (2).
Bournemouth, it would seem, are most susceptible as they’ve faced 19 shots – five more than any other team – from throw-ins this term. Southampton are one of the three sides on 14, while Wolves are among three on 12.
The Cherries are the only side to concede more than one goal from a throw-in against a single team, letting in one in each of their meetings with Brentford this term.
Brentford’s prowess in these situations is helped by the sheer number of players they have capable of launching the ball into the box. Kayode’s throw caused havoc against United at the weekend, but Kevin Schade and Mathias Jensen have each seen two long throws yield goals.
We can also look more specifically at throw-ins awarded in the final third. Again, Bournemouth stick out like a sore thumb here; 16 throw-ins they’ve conceded in their own defensive third have been followed by at least one shot, which is four more than any other team. Three led to goals, which is also the most.
Having conceded 227 throw-ins in their own defensive third, 7.1% have led to at least one shot; that, too, is the greatest proportion of all Premier League teams this season.
So, the question of which teams are most susceptible at set-pieces is a difficult one to answer, because throw-ins, free-kicks and corners are all so different.
While Villa might be solid when defending corners, they have a poor record at free-kicks. Similarly, Bournemouth might be quite inventive at attacking set-plays, yet they’ve conceded more goals from throw-ins than anyone else.
While set-piece data might get grouped together, there really is a lot of nuance to be considered.
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Which Premier League Teams Have the Poorest Records Defending Set-Pieces? Opta Analyst.
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