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One of the biggest stories of the Premier League this campaign is the drop of scoring in open play and the way teams have been scoring more from set-plays instead.

When we compare scoring methods to matchday 11 the prior season, we see 39 fewer goals in open-play and 26 more from set-plays and spot-kicks, giving us 13 less altogether.

Examining overall statistics, efforts on goal teams are taking show a staggering drop of 370 in open play than this time last time out.

Even with the big increase in set-play finishes, there have actually been just two more shots generated from them outside of spot-kicks, demonstrating how effective sides have been at finding ways to convert from dead-ball chances.

Scoring Rates Show a Story

Over 300 goals notched in the first 110 fixtures so far averages out at 2.74 scores per fixture, if maintained for the whole season could be the smallest for half a decade, back in 2020-21 (2.69 per game).

Yet merely 196 goals coming in open-play averages out 1.78 each match and is tracking to be the lowest for 16 years, back in 2009-10 (1.76 average).

That campaign is also the unique EPL campaign to experience scoring at a higher rate from dead-balls without spot-kicks than this campaign's frequency of 0.77 each match (0.79).

What Clubs Account for This Change?

In terms of goals scored from open-play, Wolves have seen the largest decrease, registering only four in 11 matches, a reduction of 10 than at this stage last season.

Apart from Wolves, England's top division's fall in open-play scoring is predominantly a London thing, with five out of the city's seven teams scoring at least five fewer goals from open-play than the previous year.

Honestly, this is mainly because them scoring lots of scores at the early stages of last season rather than them really struggling to score in open-play the current term.

Conversely Manchester City have seen the biggest increase, with all but one of their 23 scores this season arriving in open-play.

Dead-Ball Dominance

Comparing the promoted teams with those that were relegated they took the place of. Play-off winners the Black Cats have netted an additional three goals in open-play than the Saints did in their first 11 games en route to relegation last season.

Regarding goals scored from set-plays (excluding penalties), the Gunners and Chelsea have recorded the biggest increase, with each team compensating for the five less goals that they've produced in open-play with the same number from set-pieces.

Manchester United have netted two times more scores from set-pieces as they did in the 11 games the previous campaign prior to the manager took charge, while Sunderland once more prove better at scoring than the club they replaced that went down.

Manchester City appear not to have received the memo about increasing scoring from set-pieces, because they've recorded three less than last season, as have Nottingham Forest, though that might be down to the change in style they've attempted to adopt.

Overall Patterns

Six teams – the Gunners, the Blues, Fulham, the Magpies, Tottenham and West Ham – represent the current campaign's leading trend-followers by scoring fewer scores from open-play and more from set-plays, while Manchester City stand as the only side to go against the grain so far by doing the contrary.

It will be fascinating to watch if teams carry on to place such emphasis on set-pieces as the campaign progresses or if they rediscover their all-round creativity and begin converting increased totals in open play as well.