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One of the biggest stories of the Premier League season so far has been the decline of scoring in open play and the way teams have been scoring more from set-plays instead.

Looking at goal sources to the initial 11 matches the prior season, we note 39 fewer goals in open-play and an increase of 26 from team set-pieces and penalties, leading to 13 less in total.

Examining the bigger picture, shot attempts teams are taking show a remarkable 370 fewer in open play than this time previously.

Even with the significant rise in dead-ball scores, there have actually been just two more attempts produced from them excluding penalties, indicating the efficiency teams have been at discovering methods to score from dead-ball chances.

Goal Statistics Show a Story

The 301 goals notched in the first 110 fixtures so far calculates at 2.74 goals each match, if this persists for the entire campaign could be the least for since 2020-21, back in 2020-21 (2.69 average).

Yet merely 196 goals scored in open-play translates to 1.78 per game and is on course to be the least for 16 years, back in 2009-10 (1.76).

That campaign also marks the unique EPL campaign to witness goals scored more often from non-penalty set-pieces than this campaign's frequency of 0.77 each match (0.79 average).

Which Teams Are Most Responsible?

Regarding scoring from open play, Wolves have recorded the largest drop, netting just four in 11 matches, 10 less than this point last season.

Apart from Wolves, the EPL's drop in goals from open play is largely a London phenomenon, with half of the city's seven teams netting a minimum of five less scores from open-play than last season.

Honestly, that's largely down to them netting numerous goals at the start of the previous campaign rather than their genuine struggle to find the net in open-play the current term.

Conversely Manchester City have seen the largest rise, with nearly all of the 23 they've scored so far coming in open play.

Dead-Ball Dominance

Looking at newly promoted sides with the relegated sides that they superseded. Play-off champions the Black Cats have recorded an additional three goals in open-play than Southampton did in their opening 11 matches on their way to demotion last season.

Regarding goals scored from set-pieces (excluding spot-kicks), the Gunners and the Blues have seen the largest rise, with both sides compensating for the five less goals that they've scored in open play with an equal amount from set-pieces.

Man United have netted twice as many goals from set-plays as they achieved in the 11 games the previous campaign before the manager assumed control, while Sunderland once more prove more successful at netting than the similar-colored team they superseded.

City appear not to have received the memo about increasing scoring from set-plays, because they've scored a reduction of three than last season, like the Reds, though that might be down to the change in style they're working to install.

General Tendencies

Six sides – Arsenal, the Blues, the Cottagers, Newcastle, Tottenham and West Ham – represent this season's primary examples by netting less goals from open-play and additional from set-pieces, while City stand as the only side to buck the trend so far by achieving the contrary.

It will be interesting to see if sides carry on to depend greatly on set-plays as the season goes on or if they rediscover their general attacking flair and commence netting increased totals in open-play as well.