How Arsenal, Liverpool & Bayer Leverkusen Are Using Crosses To Create More Chances & Goals – Tactical Theory

Since last season, Arsenal have been consistent in creating goals from crosses.

This season (not including the game vs Leicester last weekend), Arsenal have already scored 11 goals from crosses, which means theyre just seven goals away from matching last seasons total.

Their 0.5 assists per game this season are the same as last seasons, making them the league leaders in both campaigns.

While Liverpool might not be as prolific as Arsenal, they also just scored again from crossing situations during the last Merseyside Derby, making that goal their eighth from crosses.

Liverpool are also seven goals away from matching the 15 goals they scored in the last Jürgen Klopp season.

In Germany, one thing that has stayed the same for Bayer Leverkusen since last season is their knack for scoring from crosses.

Theyve already scored 11 goals this way, putting them among the top teams in the Bundesliga.

The Number Of Crosses Has Increased In Recent Years

Its interesting to look at this trend because crossing isnt usually the best way to create chances.

In 2014, Jan Vecer wrote that, on average, only one open cross out of 91.47 leads to a goal, and writing for The Athletic Tom Worville, said the average cross from open play creates a goal just once in about 76 crosses.

The popularity of crosses has also declined.

Eight years ago, on Stats Perform Garry Gelade wrote that the number of crosses in top European football declined from around 17.5 per match in 2010/11 to 15 in 2016/17.

The Premier League also had some dips, from 17.8 crosses per 90 minutes in the 2020/21 season compared to 17.2 in the following season.

But the last two seasons show that numbers recover.

For example, this season, the Premier League has 17.5 crosses per 90 minutes, an increase from 17.3 in the previous campaign.

If we talk specifically about crosses into the penalty area (18-yard box), we can also see the numbers increase to 1.91 per 90 minutes this season compared to 1.86 last season.

The Premier League isnt the only league experiencing this—the Bundesliga has seen a similar increase.

The number of crosses to the penalty area per 90 minutes has increased from 2.2 last season to 2.3 this season, and the overall number of crosses per 90 minutes has jumped from 17.8 to 18.

There must be some reason why Arsenal keeps making crosses as one of their main ways of scoring goals, while Liverpool has also made more crosses to the penalty area this season.

Also, what makes Leverkusen consistent in creating goal opportunities through crosses, and why has the number of crosses increased in the Premier League and Bundesliga?

It seems like teams know that using crosses as one of their main ways to create chances is worth trying if they can apply certain strategies that make their crossing more efficient.

This tactical analysis will analyse the crossing trends in the Premier League and Bundesliga to discover the secret recipes behind the success of many crosses.

Eliminate Outnumbered Situations In The Opponents Penalty Box

If we look at the crosses from teams like Arsenal or Liverpool, well see that theyre really good at creating situations where theyve got the same or even more players in a certain area of the opponents penalty box.

If they know there are two opponent players to cover that area, theyll put two or more players there, so therell be more targets for the cross.

With more targets to receive that cross, theres also a higher chance of that cross becoming a shot.

Liverpool has the highest success rate of crosses in the Premier League and the highest number of successful crosses per game.

Arne Slots men do this by always creating a numerical advantage in the oppositions box.

We can see the same pattern if we look at Arsenals goal below.

When they cross, they often create a 3-on-3 situation in the opposition box.