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One of the biggest stories of the EPL season so far concerns the drop of scoring in open play and how clubs are netting increasingly from set-plays instead.

Looking at how goals have been scored to the initial 11 matches the prior season, there have been a drop of 39 goals in open play and 26 more from set-plays and spot-kicks, resulting in 13 less in total.

Examining the broader view, efforts on goal clubs are making have seen a remarkable drop of 370 in open-play than this time previously.

And despite the big increase in set-piece goals, we've actually seen just two more attempts created from these situations outside of spot-kicks, indicating how effective teams are at devising strategies to net from dead-ball situations.

Goal Averages Show the Tale

301 total goals notched in 110 matches so far works out at 2.74 goals per fixture, which if it continued for the entire campaign might be the least for five years, since 2020-21 (2.69 per game).

Yet merely 196 goals coming in open play translates to 1.78 per fixture and is tracking to be the smallest for 16 years, from 16 years ago (1.76 per game).

That campaign is also the only Premier League season to see scoring more frequently from non-penalty set-pieces than the current rate of 0.77 per fixture (0.79 per game).

Which Teams Are Most Responsible?

When it comes to scoring from open play, Wolverhampton Wanderers have experienced the largest decrease, netting a mere four in their first 11 fixtures, a reduction of 10 than at this stage last season.

Apart from Wolverhampton, the Premier League's drop in goals from open play is largely a trend among London clubs, with half of the capital's seven sides recording a minimum of five goals fewer from open play than the prior season.

To be fair, this is mainly because them scoring many scores at the early stages of the previous campaign instead of them really struggling to find the net in open play this season.

Meanwhile Manchester City have experienced the largest rise, with nearly all of their 23 scores this season coming in open play.

Dead-Ball Dominance

Looking at the promoted teams with the relegated sides they took the place of. Play-off winners the Black Cats have recorded three extra scores in open play than the Saints did in their first 11 games en route to the drop last season.

When it comes to scoring from set-pieces (aside from spot-kicks), Arsenal and Chelsea have experienced the largest rise, with the two clubs replacing the five fewer goals that they've produced in open-play with an equal amount from dead-ball chances.

Manchester United have recorded twice as many goals from set-plays as they did in the first 11 matches last season before their coach took over, while the Black Cats once more are better at scoring than the club they replaced that went down.

Manchester City don't seem to have got the trend about scoring more from set-plays, since they've scored a reduction of three than the previous campaign, similar to Nottingham Forest, even if this could be because of the altered approach they've attempted to adopt.

General Tendencies

Six clubs – Arsenal, Chelsea, Fulham, Newcastle, Spurs and West Ham – represent this season's leading trend-followers by scoring fewer goals from open-play and more from set-pieces, while Manchester City represent the unique club to defy the pattern to date by achieving the complete reverse.

It will be interesting to observe if teams carry on to depend greatly on set-plays as the season goes on or if they find again their overall inventiveness and commence converting additional scores in open play as well.