Where Has the Excitement Gone? This Drop of the Goal Scoring
A key narrative of England's top flight season so far concerns the decline of scoring in open-play scenarios and the way sides are finding goals more from dead-ball situations as an alternative.
Comparing scoring methods to the first 11 games last season, we note 39 fewer goals in open-play and an increase of 26 from set-plays and spot-kicks, giving us 13 fewer overall.
Considering the bigger picture, the number of shots clubs are making reveal a remarkable drop of 370 in open play than this time last time out.
And despite the notable jump in set-piece goals, records show just two more shots produced from them outside of penalties, showing the proficiency sides are at finding ways to score from dead-ball situations.
Goal Averages Reveal an Interesting Narrative
The 301 goals notched in 110 matches to date calculates at nearly 2.75 goals per fixture, which if it continued for all 38 games would be the lowest for five years, from five seasons ago (2.69 per game).
But just 196 goals scored in open play translates to 1.78 per fixture and is on course to be the least for since 2009-10, back in 2009-10 (1.76).
That campaign is also the only Premier League campaign to experience scoring more frequently from non-penalty set-pieces than this campaign's frequency of 0.77 per game (0.79 per game).
Which Teams Bear the Most Responsibility?
When it comes to goals scored from open-play, Wolves have recorded the most significant drop, netting only four in 11 matches, 10 less than this point last season.
Apart from Wolves, the Premier League's decline in goals from open play is predominantly a trend among London clubs, with five of the city's seven teams recording five or more less scores from open-play than last season.
In fairness, this is mainly because them scoring numerous goals at the beginning of last season as opposed to them having difficulty to find the net in open play this season.
Conversely Man City have seen the largest rise, with almost every one of their 23 goals so far arriving in open-play.
Dead-Ball Dominance
We've compared the promoted teams with the relegated sides that they superseded. Sunderland Sunderland have scored three more goals in open play than the Saints managed in their first 11 games en route to the drop last season.
When it comes to goals scored from set-plays (excluding spot-kicks), Arsenal and the Blues have recorded the biggest increase, with the two clubs compensating for the reduction of five scores that they've netted in open-play with identical figures from dead-ball chances.
United have netted twice as many goals from set-pieces as they managed in matchday 11 the previous campaign ahead of the manager took over, while Sunderland once more are better at converting than the club they replaced they replaced.
Manchester City appear not to have received the message about netting additional goals from set-plays, because they've recorded three fewer than last season, similar to the Reds, although this may result from the tactical shift they have tried to implement.
League-Wide Trends
Six sides – the Gunners, the Blues, Fulham, Newcastle, Spurs and the Hammers – are the current campaign's leading trend-followers by scoring fewer goals from open play and more from set-plays, while Manchester City stand as the unique club to defy the pattern up to now by performing the contrary.
It will be interesting to see if clubs persist to rely so heavily on set-pieces as the season goes on or if they rediscover their general attacking flair and begin netting more goals in open play as well.