How many Premier League goals are from set pieces? Analysing Arne Slot’s claim that the game is ‘not going to change’

Liverpool manager Arne Slot has said the Premier League is “not a joy” for him to watch because of the “new reality” of set pieces dominating matches.

Speaking a day after leaders Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1 in a game containing three goals from corners, Slot said teams across the division had become “so much stronger”, adding that he did not expect the trend to change in the short term.

Slot was revisiting a theme he has often discussed in press conferences, previously saying that he “cannot stop” considering set-piece importance “every single day”.

Analysis: Set pieces in the 2025/26 Premier League

After the games on March 1, Opta statistics showed that 27.5% of goals in the 2025/26 top flight had come from set pieces.

That is a rise of almost 7% on last season and the highest by at least 3.6% of any campaign in the last 10 years.

Arsenal have become renowned for their menace from corners, taking the lead for the ninth time this season from the method against Chelsea.

“You have to accept that it’s mainly here in the Premier League,” suggested Slot, referencing his native Netherlands, where he spent his entire playing career and won the Eredivisie and Dutch Cup with Feyenoord.

“If I watch other leagues, I don’t think there’s so much emphasis on set pieces. That’s sometimes funny for me to do if I watch an Eredivisie game – which I still do – [in which] goals are disallowed because fouls on goalkeepers are given.

“I’m like, ‘wow – that’s a big difference.’ Here, you can almost hit a goalkeeper in his face and the referee says ‘just go on’. Do I like it?

“My football heart doesn’t like it. If you ask me about football, I think about the Barcelona team from 10, 15 years ago. Every Sunday evening you were hoping they would play.

“Now, most of the games I see in the Premier League are not for me a joy to watch. But it’s always interesting because it’s so competitive.

“That is what makes this league great, because there is so much competitiveness. Everyone can win against everyone.

“Just as someone who loves football to enjoy it – without being interested in who’s winning or losing – there’s a big difference from three or four years ago in the Premier League.

“Not only because of set pieces, but because the teams have become so much stronger. We are not going to change it. Maybe in five or 10 years, things will change again.

“I just wouldn’t be surprised if you went to watch a Sunday League match now and the 16-year-olds were completely focused on set pieces. I have my opinion about it, but it doesn’t change.”

Analysis: Liverpool’s set piece record this season

As the table above shows, Liverpool have the lowest expected goals total from set pieces of anyone except Nottingham Forest in this season’s Premier League, scoring seven fewer times from the method than Arsenal.

They may have improved at set pieces in recent weeks: Liverpool had been outscored at set pieces by nine teams when the Premier League paused for the last round of the FA Cup in mid-February, but that has gone down to six.

Notably, only bottom side Wolves (5) have scored fewer set piece goals than second-placed Manchester City (6), who are challenging leaders Arsenal to succeed Liverpool as champions.

Tellingly, Arsenal have scored three more set-piece goals (19) than any other team, with Newcastle, Leeds United, Tottenham, Bournemouth and Manchester United their next-nearest competitors in that respect.

Only Bournemouth and West Ham (16 each) have a worse record than their total of 15 set-piece goals conceded, while only Chelsea (42.42%) have shipped a greater proportion of set-piece goals than Liverpool (40.54%).

Check out Opta’s stats for more details.

Why Arne Slot says set piece stats have gone ‘through roof’

Speaking before Liverpool’s FA Cup win at home to Brighton & Hove Albion on February 14, Slot said the difference between Liverpool’s fortunes in this season’s Premier League and Champions League comes down to their struggles at set pieces.

“The most simple answer is set pieces because in the Champions League we are top in set pieces and in the Premier League we are completely bottom,” Slot claimed.

“That reflects in the league table as well. The current Premier League is so, so, so much more about set pieces than it was last season.

“Even though I already found it very important, it has now gone through the roof in terms of how important it is.

“It is actually impossible to win the league if you have a set-piece balance like ours. You have to have plus five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 – no matter what you do in open play – to have a chance to win the league.”

Slot was speaking a day after one of the teams with a dedicated set-piece coach, Brentford, scored from a long throw-in to earn a point at home to Arsenal.

“I again watched a game in which set pieces were almost part of everything that happened during the game,” Slot said of the 1-1 draw. Gunners counterpart Mikel Arteta underlined Brentford’s set-piece strength after the contest.

Where are Liverpool’s set-piece strengths? Van Dijk ‘vital’

At the time, Slot said that “doing set pieces well” is the “only attribute you should have” this season in the Premier League and praised captain Virgil van Dijk’s threat.

“It’s vital that he has already scored a few goals for us this season – and definitely last season – from se pieces,” Slot reflected.

“He’s a big threat in the air offensively and defensively. He’s important for us not to concede. He’s vital and I hope he will score many more for us from set pieces this season.”

What’s next for Liverpool? Fixtures, schedule

Liverpool will move fourth in the table above Aston Villa if they win on Tuesday at Wolves, who beat the Villans 2-0 at home on Friday.

They then visit Wolves again in the FA Cup fifth round before resuming their Champions League campaign in Istanbul.

Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: 101greatgoals.com