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A key narrative of the Premier League this campaign is the drop of scoring in open play and the way teams are finding goals more from set-plays instead.

Looking at how goals have been scored to the initial 11 matches last season, there have been 39 fewer scored in open play and 26 more from set-plays and spot-kicks, giving us 13 fewer altogether.

Considering the bigger picture, the number of shots clubs are making have seen a staggering drop of 370 in open-play than at this stage previously.

Even with the significant rise in dead-ball scores, there have actually been a mere two extra attempts generated from these situations excluding spot-kicks, indicating the efficiency teams have been at devising strategies to score from set-pieces.

Scoring Rates Reveal an Interesting Narrative

301 total goals scored in 110 matches to date calculates at 2.74 goals each match, if this persists for the whole season would be the lowest for five years, since 2020-21 (2.69 average).

However, only 196 goals scored in open play averages out 1.78 each match and is heading to be the least for 16 years, from 16 years ago (1.76 average).

The 2009-10 season also marks the sole English top-flight campaign to see goals scored more often from set-plays excluding penalties than this season's rate of 0.77 each match (0.79 average).

Which Teams Are Most Responsible?

Regarding goals scored from open-play, Wolves have experienced by far the biggest decrease, registering a mere four in 11 games, 10 less than this point last season.

Excluding Wolverhampton, the EPL's decline in open-play scoring is predominantly a trend among London clubs, with five out of the city's seven teams netting at least five goals fewer from open play than the previous year.

Honestly, this is primarily due to their scoring lots of goals at the beginning of the previous campaign instead of their genuine struggle to find the net in open-play the current term.

At the same time Man City have experienced the biggest increase, with nearly all of their 23 scores to date coming in open play.

Set-Piece Success

We've compared newly promoted sides with the teams that went down that they superseded. Play-off winners the Black Cats have scored three more scores in open-play than the Saints managed in matchday 11 leading to demotion the previous campaign.

In terms of scoring from dead-ball situations (aside from penalties), Arsenal and Chelsea have recorded the biggest increase, with the two clubs compensating for the reduction of five goals that they've netted in open play with the same number from dead-ball chances.

United have scored double the number scores from set-plays as they managed in matchday 11 last season before Ruben Amorim assumed control, while Sunderland additionally are more effective at netting than the club they replaced they superseded.

City don't seem to have got the trend about increasing scoring from set-plays, since they've netted a reduction of three than last season, similar to Nottingham Forest, even if this could be because of the tactical shift they've attempted to adopt.

League-Wide Trends

Six sides – Arsenal, the Blues, the Cottagers, the Magpies, Spurs and the Hammers – are this term's leading trend-followers by scoring fewer scores from open-play and more from set-plays, while Manchester City are the sole team to defy the pattern to date by performing the contrary.

It will be interesting to watch if sides persist to depend greatly on set-pieces as matches continue or if they regain their all-round creativity and start scoring additional scores in open-play as well.