How mastering set pieces can be crucial to Premier League survival

When Thomas Frank’s Brentford were promoted to the Premier League in the summer of 2021, the Danish head coach and his staff identified three key areas they needed to focus on if they wanted to maintain their place in England’s top division.

“We need to be defensively good, very fit to keep the intensity, and we have to be good on set pieces,” said Frank on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football in September. Later in the show, Brentford’s head coach elaborated on the last of these points, stating that if you believe in set pieces and have the knowledge then it’s a “relatively easy win”.

Since their promotion, Brentford’s prowess from set pieces has helped them become a regular fixture in the Premier League, pushing them towards the fight for the European spots last season, and steering them away from the relegation battle in 2021-22.

So, how important are attacking set pieces to avoiding the drop from the Premier League?

In an attempt to find an answer, The Athletic went through the last five relegation battles in the Premier League to see if attacking set pieces were an important tool in avoiding the drop.

2018-19

As Liverpool and Manchester City were battling it out until the last day at the top of the table, Huddersfield Town and Fulham’s relegation felt inevitable with every passing week in 2019. The last spot on the train to the Championship felt like Cardiff City’s to lose, with Burnley, Southampton and Brighton & Hove Albion in the mix.

Eventually, it was Cardiff who got relegated, and in an important clash away to Burnley on April 13, 2019, set pieces proved their worth for Sean Dyche’s side. Chris Wood’s header from a Dwight McNeil corner gave Burnley the lead, before the New Zealand striker doubled their advantage towards the end of the game.

Burnley’s effectiveness from set plays during that season was key in the relegation battle. Simply looking at the total number of goals scored from set pieces isn’t entirely reflective of a side’s efficiency because Burnley won’t have the same number of set pieces as, say, Manchester City. Instead, measuring goals per 100 set pieces gives us a better indication.

With a rate of seven goals for every 100 set pieces, Burnley were the Premier League’s most effective side from free kicks and corners in 2018-19. Their 10 goals from corners also meant that they topped the charts in terms of goals per 100 corners (7.2) ahead of Brighton’s 6.4. In Chris Hughton’s final season with the club, Brighton’s record of 5.9 goals per 100 set pieces, which was the third-best in the league, helped them keep their place in the Premier League for another season, a key moment in their development into the club they have become.

Towards the other end of the spectrum, Huddersfield, Fulham and Cardiff’s inability to score enough goals from set pieces didn’t improve their chances of avoiding the drop. Huddersfield (2.9), Fulham (2.9) and Cardiff (2.7) had the worst goals per 100 set pieces record in the league alongside Southampton.

However, the side who could have avoided relegation were the team who focused on set pieces during that campaign. Despite having the worst goals-per-100-set-pieces rate in the league, Cardiff did manage to create high-quality set-piece chances on average — their expected goals (xG) per 100 set pieces (4.7) was the third best in the league after Burnley and Brighton.

Targeting their captain, Sean Morrison, on set pieces was Cardiff’s main approach, but not converting their chances in this phase of play proved costly. They accumulated the most xG from set pieces that season (18.9), but only scored 11 goals — the biggest underperformance in the league. A better conversion rate would undoubtedly have kept them up.

2019-20

The following season, the relegation battle was tighter, with Aston Villa, Bournemouth and Watford fighting to avoid an 18th-place finish on the final day. Brighton and West Ham United had secured their survival in the days before, and set pieces helped them along the way.

West Ham didn’t top the league in terms of goals per 100 set pieces, but having the fourth-best rate certainly helped. Additionally, their total of 10 goals from corners — second most after Liverpool’s 11 — meant that they led the Premier League in terms of goals per 100 corners (5.3).

On their road to safety, West Ham scored five times from set pieces between gameweeks 32 and 36 — including twice in their crucial 4-0 away victory against Norwich City on July 11, 2020. Ten days earlier, Tomas Soucek’s header from a corner was the first of three set-piece goals in West Ham’s 3-2 win against Chelsea.

On that goal, Chelsea had three zonal markers (blue) towards the near post, Willian by the edge of the box, Christian Pulisic outside it (out of shot), and the remaining five players were man-marking the West Ham players.

Declan Rice and Michail Antonio (red) were positioned by the six-yard area, ahead of a train composed of Angelo Ogbonna, Issa Diop and Soucek…

… who dispersed once Jarrod Bowen started his run to cross the ball. Diop (white) made a dummy run towards the near post to drag Marcos Alonso with him, Soucek (yellow) attacked the back post, and Ogbonna (red) was pinning Andreas Christensen to prevent him from defending the cross.

That was also the role of Rice and Antonio (red), who were there as blockers to prevent Ross Barkley, N’Golo Kante and Kepa Arrizabalaga from moving towards the back post. Considering the positioning of the zonal Chelsea players, West Ham’s approach isolated Soucek against Cesar Azpilicueta at the back post, where Bowen targeted his cross.

While the ball was in the air, Antonio blocked Arrizabalaga at the right moment…

… allowing Soucek a clear one-versus-one against Azpilicueta. The West Ham midfielder’s height advantage helped him head the ball into the net to make it 1-1.

On the final day, Villa managed to secure their safety with a draw away to West Ham, but it could have been Bournemouth who stayed up. After all, there was little between them, which was also the case in terms of set pieces.

Eddie Howe’s side managed to score 16 goals from set pieces in 2019-20, the third most in the league and one more than Villa’s 15. Even when taking into consideration the number of set pieces they had, Bournemouth’s 4.5 goals per 100 set pieces narrowly edged Villa’s rate of 4.4.

The timing of Villa’s goals from set plays mattered though. Five of their nine points in the last eight games of the season came exclusively through set pieces, while their first goal in a 2-0 win against Crystal Palace on July 12 also came from an indirect free kick.

A notable feature of Villa’s free kicks towards the end of the season was Trezeguet’s wide positioning and late runs towards the back post.

That’s exactly how they scored against Palace. Initially, Trezeguet was positioned outside the box…

… before moving towards the back post as Conor Hourihane prepared to take the set piece. Helping him was the positioning of Mbwana Samatta and Ahmed Elmohamady (claret) towards the near post, and Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa (white) towards the back post…

… which occupied the last two players in Palace’s defensive line once Hourihane crossed the ball, freeing Trezeguet of any marking.

That came in handy when Joel Ward tried to clear the cross, as he played it directly into the path of Trezeguet, who opened the scoring for Villa.

Trezeguet’s late runs towards the back post featured in Villa’s corners as well. He would originally start outside of the box, and delay his run until the corner taker was just striking the ball.

In Villa’s most important win of the season against Arsenal on July 21 — which saw them climb out of the relegation zone — Trezeguet’s late runs at corners made the difference.

For the only goal of the game, he started outside of the box with Villa having four players inside, man-marked by four Arsenal players. The rest of Arsenal’s defensive setup consisted of Lucas Torreira and Dani Ceballos defending against the short corner, and four zonal players around the six-yard area.

Hourihane’s run to take the corner was the signal for the other Villa players to attack the space: Frederic Guilbert, Mings and Konsa (claret) moved towards the near post, and Samatta (white) went to the back post, dragging their man-markers to the edge of the six-yard area and freeing space for Trezeguet’s late run (yellow).

That routine ensured that Villa were attacking both the near post (claret) and the back post (white) while vacating space in front of the six-yard area for Trezeguet’s late run (yellow) because the Arsenal zonal players would be more concerned with defending the cross. When Mings failed to connect with the ball cleanly, it fell to Trezeguet…

… who struck it into the bottom corner to score the only goal of the game.

Similar to the 2018-19 season, relegated Watford and Norwich had the worst goals per 100 set pieces rate in the league (both 1.3). A sign, perhaps?

2020-21

Sheffield United and Fulham’s record of four and five goals from set pieces in 2020-21 would tend to agree. Both failed to avoid relegation, and had the worst goals-per-100-set-pieces figure in the league along with Arsenal and Leicester City.

West Bromwich Albion, the third of the relegated teams, didn’t fare much better either. Their 2.8 goals per 100 set pieces was the sixth worst in the league, despite having the seventh-best xG per 100 set pieces.

Although they finished the season in 12th, Newcastle United were still in the relegation battle with four matches to go — down in 17th after losing to Arsenal on May 2, 2021, and nervously hoping Fulham and West Brom wouldn’t overtake them. After beating Leicester 4-2 the following Friday, featuring a goal from a corner through Paul Dummett, Newcastle edged closer to safety, which was secured when results went their way a couple of days later.

Newcastle’s 10 goals from set pieces during that season provided them with a helping hand to steer away from the relegation zone. The 250 set pieces they had throughout the season meant that they ranked sixth in terms of goals per 100 set pieces.

Yet, the plaudits had to go to a certain James Ward-Prowse, whose consistent delivery and precision on set pieces elevated Southampton to second place in the goals-per-100-set-pieces table for 2020-21, despite the club freefalling in the league table in the second half of the season. Only West Ham (17) eclipsed Southampton’s 15 goals from set pieces in 2020-21.

If you are still looking for Burnley, they dropped from first place in terms of goals per 100 set pieces (2018-19) and second place (2019-20) to eighth. It’s not that they weren’t creating enough high-quality chances from set pieces, they just didn’t score them. Sean Dyche’s side had the highest xG from set pieces (12.7), but underperformed by 3.7 goals.

2021-22

Continuing the trend, Watford and Norwich’s ineffectiveness at set pieces was a mirror to their overall performances. Combined, they only managed nine goals from set pieces, placing them at 19th and 20th in terms of goals per 100 set pieces — their same positions in the actual table.

Brentford’s focus on set pieces was clear in their first season in the Premier League, scoring 16 times from dead-ball situations with a rate of 4.8 goals per 100 set pieces — the sixth-best rate in the league.

For the final relegation spot, there was little between Everton (4.1), Leeds (4.0), Burnley (3.9) and Southampton (3.9) in their rate of goals per 100 set pieces.

Again, Ward-Prowse’s set-piece mastery helped Southampton with 15 goals, including four direct free kicks. Two of Everton’s three goals in their comeback against Palace on May 19, 2022, which ended their relegation fears, came from set pieces.

As for Leeds, they just needed to better Burnley’s result on the final day of the season. Away to Brentford on May 22, 2022, Jack Harrison’s late winner on the second phase of a corner secured Leeds’ stay in the Premier League, with Burnley losing to Newcastle at Turf Moor.

But there was another set piece that was much more valuable to Leeds — as they didn’t need the win against Brentford after all. Stuart Dallas’ strike in Leeds’ 3-1 victory against Burnley on January 2, 2022, proved more important given how the season panned out — a goal from a short-taken corner that caught out Burnley’s defensive setup.

In that game, Burnley had two players on the posts, four man-markers (red), three zonal markers (claret) and a player to defend against the short corner.

Burnley’s man-markers were Wood (No 9), Ben Mee (No 6), James Tarkowski (No 5), and Jack Cork (No 4). Three of them had their eyes on Junior Firpo, Robin Koch, Luke Ayling…

… while Tarkowski’s man was Diego Llorente. Once Leeds played the short corner, Maxwel Cornet had to move out to support Ashley Westwood against Mateusz Klich and Raphinha…

… but the important movement was happening elsewhere. Firpo’s dummy run towards the near post dragged Cork deeper, Koch did the same to Wood towards the back post, and Llorente’s late run into the box gave Tarkowski no option but to move backwards. All of that increased the distance between any Burnley player and Dallas (yellow) who was positioned outside of the box.

Raphinha’s pass into Klich — and not directly to Dallas — also helped…

… because it forced Cornet to move towards Klich instead of running at Dallas. Dallas then received the ball from Klich under no pressure…

… and curled it into the far corner to make it 2-1.

Burnley were no longer the unstoppable set-piece menace that they were in the 2018-19 season and eventually, it cost them their top-flight status.

2022-23

Until now, offensive set pieces have played a clear role in the relegation battles we’ve looked at. Last season was the outlier.

Leicester’s improved rate of scoring from set pieces (sixth best in the division) wasn’t enough to keep them up, while Leeds and Southampton having a rate of four goals per 100 set pieces put them both firmly in mid-table for effectiveness.

Of course, set plays aren’t the only important factor in any relegation battle, but they are a helpful tool. Rather than ignoring it, working on routines and improving your taker’s delivery might be the difference between keeping your place in the top division and losing it.

One of the teams that has been focusing on set pieces this season are Luton Town. It’s a phase of the game that they “work hard on” as their head coach, Rob Edwards, explained after two set-piece goals against Everton won them the three points. “We always have a plan, there will always be tweaks for every single game — where we see we can expose the opposition, and where we think they are strong to try and avoid.”

GO DEEPER

How Luton’s intelligent set pieces earned them a first Premier League win

On the other hand, Sheffield United and Burnley would be wise to work on improving their attacking set pieces in the remainder of 2023-24 if they want to dampen their relegation fears.

Is this all worth it though? All this laborious work on the training pitch for around 10-15 goals a season? Are attacking set pieces actually that important in the relegation battle?

Maybe we should ask Sean Dyche, whose Everton lead the division for goals per 100 set pieces this season. He knows.