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One of the biggest stories of the Premier League this campaign concerns the reduction of scoring in open play and the way clubs have been scoring more from dead-ball situations as an alternative.

Looking at how goals have been scored to the first 11 games last season, we see a drop of 39 scored in open play and an increase of 26 from team set-pieces and spot-kicks, leading to 13 less overall.

If we look at the bigger picture, the number of shots teams are taking show a remarkable drop of 370 in open-play than at this stage previously.

Even with the notable jump in set-piece goals, records show just two more shots produced from these situations outside of penalties, indicating the efficiency sides have been at finding ways to net from dead-ball situations.

Scoring Rates Tell an Interesting Narrative

301 total goals notched in the first 110 fixtures up to now averages out at 2.74 scores per fixture, if maintained for the entire campaign could be the least for half a decade, since 2020-21 (2.69).

However, only under 200 goals coming in open-play translates to 1.78 per game and is on course to be the lowest for 16 years, back in 2009-10 (1.76).

That campaign is also the only Premier League campaign to see scoring at a higher rate from set-plays excluding penalties than this season's rate of 0.77 per game (0.79 average).

Which Sides Bear the Most Responsibility?

Regarding goals scored from open play, Wolves have recorded the largest drop, registering only four in their first 11 fixtures, a reduction of 10 than at this stage last season.

Excluding Wolves, England's top division's drop in goals from open play is very much a London thing, with five of the capital's seven sides netting a minimum of five less scores from open-play than last season.

To be fair, this is primarily due to them scoring lots of goals at the early stages of last season rather than their genuine struggle to convert in open-play this campaign.

Meanwhile Man City have recorded the biggest increase, with nearly all of their 23 scores to date arriving in open-play.

Dead-Ball Dominance

Comparing newly promoted sides with the relegated sides they took the place of. Sunderland the Black Cats have recorded an additional three goals in open-play than Southampton managed in their opening 11 matches on their way to the drop the previous campaign.

Regarding goals scored from set-pieces (aside from penalties), the Gunners and Chelsea have seen the largest rise, with each team replacing the five less goals that they've produced in open-play with an equal amount from dead-ball situations.

Manchester United have scored twice as many goals from set-plays as they achieved in the 11 games the previous campaign before Ruben Amorim took over, while Sunderland again are more effective at scoring than the fellow red-and-whites that went down.

Man City appear not to have received the memo about increasing scoring from set-plays, since they've scored a reduction of three than the previous campaign, like the Reds, although this may result from the tactical shift they've attempted to adopt.

League-Wide Trends

Six sides – Arsenal, the Blues, the Cottagers, Newcastle, Tottenham and West Ham – are the current campaign's leading trend-followers by scoring fewer scores from open play and more from set-plays, while Manchester City represent the sole team to defy the pattern up to now by doing the contrary.

It will be interesting to watch if teams continue to place such emphasis on set-pieces as the season goes on or if they rediscover their all-round creativity and begin converting additional scores in open-play also.