🔗 Share this article Is the Entertainment Fading? The Fall of Open-Play Goals from Open Play The Wolves squad have scored a decrease of 10 scores from open-play situations than at this stage last season. A key narrative of the EPL season so far concerns the reduction of scoring in open-play scenarios and how teams are finding goals increasingly from set-plays as an alternative. Comparing how goals have been scored to the initial 11 matches last season, there have been 39 fewer goals in open play and 26 more from set-plays and spot-kicks, leading to 13 fewer in total. If we look at the broader view, shot attempts clubs are making have seen a staggering 370 fewer in open-play than this time last season. Even with the big increase in set-piece goals, we've actually seen only two additional attempts generated from them outside of spot-kicks, showing the efficiency teams are at finding ways to convert from dead-ball chances. Scoring Rates Show an Interesting Narrative 301 total goals notched in 110 matches so far averages out at nearly 2.75 goals per game, which if it continued for the whole season could be the lowest for five years, from five seasons ago (2.69 average). Yet merely under 200 goals coming in open play equates to 1.78 per game and is heading to be the least for 16 years, back in 2009-10 (1.76). The 2009-10 season additionally represents the only Premier League season to experience scoring more often from non-penalty set-pieces than the current rate of 0.77 per fixture (0.79 average). What Clubs Bear the Most Responsibility? When it comes to goals scored from open-play, Wolves have recorded the most significant decrease, scoring a mere four in their first 11 fixtures, 10 fewer than this point the previous campaign. Apart from Wolverhampton, England's top division's drop in open-play scoring is largely a London thing, with five out of the capital's seven sides scoring five or more less scores from open play than the previous year. In fairness, this is mainly because their scoring numerous goals at the start of the previous campaign instead of them having difficulty to convert in open-play the current term. Meanwhile Manchester City have experienced the largest rise, with all but one of their 23 scores so far originating in open play. Dead-Ball Dominance Looking at the promoted teams with those that were relegated they replaced. Play-off winners the Black Cats have netted three extra scores in open play than Southampton achieved in their first 11 games on their way to relegation last season. When it comes to scoring from set-plays (excluding penalties), the Gunners and Chelsea have seen the biggest increase, with both sides compensating for the five less goals that they've produced in open-play with identical figures from dead-ball chances. Manchester United have scored two times more goals from set-pieces as they did in the first 11 matches last season before their coach assumed control, while Sunderland once more prove better at netting than the similar-colored team they replaced. City seem unaware of the memo about increasing scoring from set-plays, because they've scored three fewer than last season, similar to Nottingham Forest, although this could be because of the altered approach they have tried to implement. Overall Patterns Six clubs – Arsenal, Chelsea, the Cottagers, the Magpies, Tottenham and the Hammers – represent this term's leading trend-followers by netting less scores from open play and more from set-pieces, while Manchester City represent the sole team to buck the trend so far by performing the contrary. It remains to be seen to observe if teams continue to depend greatly on set-plays as the campaign progresses or if they find again their overall inventiveness and start converting more goals in open-play too.