Tottenham could join Arsenal in breaking the record for goals from corners in a Premier League season. Set-pieces could play a crucial role for both teams in their final four games.
You may be aware that set-pieces have been significant in Premier League games this season.
More or less everyone is at it these days, taking the lead of the most efficient clubs when it comes to dead balls and trying to recreate their success. Set-pieces are a simple way to get the ball close to goal quickly, while putting all of your most physical players in the penalty area, and doing them well has become a priority for many of the league’s teams.
More set-piece goals are being scored this season (0.73 per game) than in any other Premier League season on record (since 2013-14). A higher proportion of all goals are coming from non-penalty set-pieces (26.9%) than in any other campaign.
Almost every team has also become less effective when it comes to attacking in open play, with Manchester City, Manchester United and Nottingham Forest the only teams who have seen an increase in their open-play expected goals compared with last season. And even those three have only done so by less than 0.1 xG per game. The few teams who have improved in open play have barely done so.
Meanwhile, 10 of the 17 ever-present teams have seen their open-play xG drop by more than 0.1 per game, and four (Spurs, Liverpool, Newcastle, Wolves) have seen a fall of more than 0.4 xG per game.
Right now, at this crunch time in the season, it is immaterial whether these changes are by design because managers are putting so much more focus on set-pieces or because opponents are getting better at defending. The point is that this is happening, and with only a few games left to play, that means there is even more need to make the most of set-pieces.
A big factor in how much things have changed is the increase in focus on attacking corners. They are the most common and effective method of set-piece attack, accounting for the majority of all set-piece goals.
Indeed, more goals are being scored from corners (0.48 per game) than in any other season since 2013-14. They are making up 17.5% of all goals scored in the Premier League this season, when the highest proportion seen in any of the previous 12 campaigns was 13.9%.
The numbers back up what we’ve all been seeing for months. Corners are dominating Premier League football more than at any other point in recent memory.
That means there is a good chance they will continue to be prominent for the remainder of the season, and they could prove crucial in big battles at both ends of the table.
That’s because the two most successful teams when it comes to corners are still fighting to save their seasons.
Firstly, Arsenal are the best team the Premier League has ever seen at creating chances and scoring goals at corners. With Eberechi Eze’s goal against Newcastle last weekend, which came from a short corner, they broke the Premier League record for the most goals from corner situations in a season, with 17. The previous record was 16, held by three teams – Arsenal (2023-24), West Bromwich Albion (2016-17) and Oldham Athletic (1992-93).
Such has been the prominence of corners this season, however, that another team may break that previous record, too. Tottenham are on 15 corner goals for 2025-26, one off the record that Arsenal have just broken, and only two behind them.
Arsenal are still fighting for the Premier League title and, currently level on points with City, they may need to boost their goal difference if their rivals keep on winning, too. Realistically, given Arsenal’s struggles of late, set-pieces will be key if they are to win the league by outscoring City. And even if they are relying on City slipping up, winning matches may come down to corners, too, as was the case against Newcastle last Saturday.
Mikel Arteta’s side have the highest xG at corners of all Premier League teams this season (12.1) and they have had the most shots from corner situations (95). In Declan Rice, they have one of the most effective corner takers in the league, with only Bruno Fernandes’ corners leading to more goals (eight) than those of Rice (seven) in the Premier League this season, though Rice’s corners have led to chances worth by far the highest xG (6.9).
In their final four games, Arsenal face the team with the Premier League’s worst defensive record when it comes to goals conceded from corners this season, West Ham (15), as well as Burnley, who have only conceded eight goals, but lead the top flight for xG allowed at defensive corners (11.3). Those two games could present opportunities for a goal-difference boost.
Arsenal will face sterner tests from Fulham and Crystal Palace, who have shipped eight and seven goals from corner situations, respectively, and may put up more of a fight when it comes to defending set-pieces. However, Arsenal scored from a corner in the return game against Fulham, and they will hope to win more corners than the four they had in their 1-0 win over Palace at the Emirates back in October.
Tottenham, meanwhile, are fighting for their lives at the other end of the table, having struggled to create chances in open play all season. Only relegated Wolves (0.52) have averaged a lower open-play xG per game in the Premier League this season than Spurs (0.68).
They have relied on dead balls far too heavily, with a higher proportion of their goals coming from non-penalty set-pieces (34.9%) than any other team in the Premier League.
However, their reliance isn’t on all set-pieces; every one of their 15 set-piece goals has come from a corner. Despite being among the best Premier League teams ever for corner goals, Spurs have not scored a single goal from a free-kick or throw-in situation this season. None of their many, many long throws have led to a goal.
Their mounting problems were worsened last Saturday when their best and most creative player, Xavi Simons, was stretchered off with what turned out to be a season-ending ruptured ACL.
They were looking like they wouldn’t be able to break Wolves down without their main creative outlet, only to finally score late on when João Palhinha poked home the scrappiest of goals from a corner. It was by far the best chance Spurs had all game.
Without Simons, who has joined Wilson Odobert, Dejan Kulusevski and Mohammed Kudus as creative Spurs players currently on the treatment table, Spurs are going to find it even more difficult to find a route to goal in the final weeks of the campaign. Winning corners could prove integral to their chances of survival.
Spurs may only need two wins, and two of their four remaining matches are against sides who have not fared particularly well when it comes to defending corners. Only West Ham have conceded more goals from corners this season than Chelsea (11), who Spurs face on 19 May. And Leeds, who Spurs face a week on Monday, have shipped nine goals from corners, while only two teams have allowed their opponents more shots from corners than Leeds (92). Everton, another of Spurs’ opponents, rank next in that list, with 88 shots faced.
At a time when Tottenham need something – anything – to cling to, corners might just be their best hope of a route out of their dreadful current situation.
Of course, this reliance on dead balls has been a massive problem for Tottenham all season. Set-pieces are much easier to defend against than high-quality football in open play, and plenty of opponents have found Spurs too easy to keep out.
Arsenal, too, have struggled to score freely when teams prevent them from taking a lead through a set-piece. They have been criticised for relying too heavily on set-pieces, even if any supposed reliance is clearly hardly hurting them anything like it is Spurs. Whether or not they win the title will be the deciding factor in how their focus on set-pieces will be viewed.
Last weekend, however, both north London sides secured a narrow, nervy and absolutely vital 1-0 win thanks to a single goal from a corner. And they’d both love to do exactly that a few more times again this season.
If they score goals, nobody will be complaining about how they went in. If they get another win this weekend against more tricky opponents thanks to another corner, everyone will be happy.
With the pressure on both sides, they may need to lean into their set-piece prowess more than ever. Their success could decide matters at both ends of the table.
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