Set-piece situations can define a teams season and secure vital points, which can be the difference between staying up and relegation, or between continental qualification and mid-table obscurity.
As a result, like everything in football, more focus and detail are being put into set-pieces, with different strategies and trends used by different teams.
In this series of set-piece analysis articles, using routines and data, I will look at offensive and defensive trends across several leagues from the 19/20 season, with this weeks focus on the Premier Leagues offensive trends around the near-post zone.
To assess trends in this tactical analysis, we will mainly look at the expected goals and the number of deliveries attempted into specific zones from corners, with certain teams standing out in each area.
This piece will focus on near-post deliveries and the routines clubs in the league use.
Premier League Goals And xG Stats
The most basic stat to look at from set-pieces that provides some context on each team is goals scored and their expected goals.
We can see below a chart detailing this, with the average number of goals scored from set pieces this season being 6.5.
The two best sides from set pieces in the league this season, according to Wyscout, are Liverpool and Bournemouth, while the worst teams are Crystal Palace, Watford, and Norwich.
We can compare each teams goals to their xG from set-pieces below, with both averages for each metric also placed on the graph.
We can see Everton has generated the highest xG from set pieces (4.86), with West Ham (3.84), Brighton (3.94), and Burnley (3.71) also ranking well.
The worst performers
