Overview
- A record share of goals is arriving from dead balls this season, with about 19% coming from corners and a marked rise in long throws.
- Arsenal have been prolific from set pieces with nine goals, Tottenham rank among the leaders, and Manchester City are yet to score from a set play.
- Pep Guardiola cited Tony Pulis’s late‑2000s Stoke as a forerunner of today’s long‑throw and set‑piece focus, and Pulis has publicly claimed that blueprint.
- Clubs are formalising work on dead balls with specialist coaches such as Nicolas Jover and Andreas Georgson, targeting marginal gains in tight schedules.
- The shift has triggered debate, with Jamie Carragher warning about lost playing time, while Burnley’s Scott Parker argues Arsenal remain fluid and not dependent on set plays.