Mikel Arteta’s side just broke a record that had stood since the very first Premier League season. And, yes, it has to do with set-pieces.
As the chant goes, “Set Piece Again, Ole Ole Ole”. Well, here we are again.
As has become customary this season, Arsenal’s dead-ball prowess has once again proved crucial, helping them past Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday evening. It was yet another reminder, in case we needed it (we didn’t), of just how central these situations have become to Arsenal’s attacking identity.
Eberechi Eze’s goal, following a short corner, was Arsenal’s 17thscored from a corner situation in the 2025-26 Premier League. It not only helped them return to the top of the Premier League, overtaking Manchester City, but broke a Premier League record that had stood since the very first season.
It’s fair to say most fans will not recall much from Oldham Athletic’s short spell in the Premier League. The Latics lasted just two seasons, surviving relegation on goal difference in the inaugural 1992-93 campaign before going down the following year.
However, across that period they carved out a niche for themselves as a major set-piece threat. Oldham scored 28 goals from corners across those two years, six more than anyone else, including 16 in that first Premier League season alone. That total was a recorded that had remained unbroken for 32 full seasons. Until now.
Tony Pulis’ West Bromwich Albion equalled the record in 2016-17, before Arsenal did the same in 2023-24.
But Arsenal’s latest goal from a corner took their tally to 17for the 2025-26 season, setting a new Premier League record. With four matches still to play, that number could yet rise further.
Most Goals Scored From Corners in a Premier League Season:
17 – Arsenal (2025-26)*
16 – Arsenal (2023-24), West Bromwich Albion (2016-17), Oldham Athletic (1992-93)
15 – Liverpool (2021-22), Manchester City (2021-22), Manchester City (2011-12), Manchester City (2009-10), Manchester United (2012-13), Manchester United (2007-08)
14 – Arsenal (2024-25), Liverpool (2018-19), Tottenham Hotspur (2025-26), West Bromwich Albion (2014-15), Wimbledon (1993-94)
*ongoing
It says a lot about how much emphasis Mikel Arteta has put on Arsenal’s set-piece strength that they feature regularly in the above list. They matched Oldham and West Brom’s record of 16 goals scored from corners in 2023-24 and followed it with 14 last season. Now, they are alone at the top.
Their effectiveness has, at times, been used as a stick with which to beat them. Critics have argued their reliance on set-pieces makes their football predictable or overly functional.
There may be a degree of truth in that, but what’s clear from the list above is that set-pieces are not only the preserve of so-called pragmatic or defensive sides. Elite teams have long used them as a key weapon.
Manchester City under Pep Guardiola scored 15 goals from corners in 2021-22 on their way to the title, narrowly edging Liverpool, who also scored 15 that season. Manchester United’s 2007-08 campaign, which ended in a Premier League and Champions League double, also featured strong set-piece output to go alongside their famous attacking trio of Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez.
Arsenal’s 17corner goals have been shared across the squad. Jurrien Timber leads the way with three scored directly from corners, while Gabriel Magalhães, Mikel Merino and Martin Zubimendi have each scored two. Arsenal have also forced two own goals from corners, such is their ability to crowd the opposition box and put defenders under immense pressure.
Arsenal’s set-piece efficiency is not a coincidence. It’s the product of deliberate coaching and careful recruitment designed to give them the added edge they need to finally win the Premier League.
They’ve now set one Premier League record, but it will mean absolutely nothing if they are unable to deliver the ultimate prize.
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