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A major talking point of England's top flight this campaign is the reduction of goals scored in open-play scenarios and the way sides have been scoring increasingly from set-pieces instead.

Looking at goal sources to the first 11 games the prior season, we see a drop of 39 scored in open-play and an increase of 26 from set-plays and spot-kicks, leading to 13 fewer in total.

Examining overall statistics, efforts on goal teams are taking reveal a staggering 370 fewer in open-play than this time last time out.

Even with the notable jump in set-piece goals, records show just two more attempts generated from them excluding spot-kicks, indicating how effective clubs have been at devising strategies to score from set-pieces.

Scoring Rates Show the Tale

301 total goals scored in 110 matches to date works out at 2.74 goals per game, if this persists for the entire campaign might be the smallest for since 2020-21, since 2020-21 (2.69).

Yet merely 196 goals scored in open play averages out 1.78 per fixture and is heading to be the lowest for 16 years, back in 2009-10 (1.76).

2009-10 additionally represents the sole English top-flight season to see scoring more frequently from dead-balls without spot-kicks than this season's rate of 0.77 per fixture (0.79 average).

Which Teams Bear the Most Responsibility?

When it comes to goals scored from open play, Wolverhampton Wanderers have experienced by far the biggest drop, netting a mere four in 11 games, a reduction of 10 than this point the previous campaign.

Outside of Wolverhampton, the Premier League's fall in open-play scoring is very much a London phenomenon, with five out of the London's seven clubs scoring a minimum of five fewer goals from open-play than the prior season.

To be fair, this is mainly because them netting lots of goals at the start of last season as opposed to them having difficulty to find the net in open-play this season.

Conversely Manchester City have recorded the most significant jump, with all but one of the 23 they've scored so far originating in open-play.

Set-Play Proficiency

We've compared the promoted teams with those that were relegated they replaced. Play-off winners the Black Cats have scored three extra scores in open play than the Saints achieved in their opening 11 matches leading to relegation last season.

In terms of goals scored from set-pieces (not counting penalties), the Gunners and the Blues have seen the most significant jump, with the two clubs replacing the reduction of five goals that they've produced in open play with an equal amount from set-pieces.

United have netted two times more scores from set-pieces as they did in the 11 games last season prior to Ruben Amorim took charge, while the Black Cats again have been better at converting than the club they replaced they replaced.

Man City don't seem to have got the memo about increasing scoring from set-pieces, since they've recorded a reduction of three than the previous campaign, similar to the Reds, although this could be because of the altered approach they're working to install.

Overall Patterns

Six sides – Arsenal, Chelsea, the Cottagers, the Magpies, Tottenham and the Hammers – have been this term's leading trend-followers by scoring fewer scores from open play and additional from set-plays, while Manchester City are the only side to go against the grain up to now by performing the contrary.

It remains to be seen to see if teams continue to depend greatly on set-plays as matches continue or if they rediscover their all-round creativity and begin netting additional scores in open play too.