Have set-piece kings Arsenal really become set-piece strugglers?

Arsenal are yet to score from a set-piece this season, excluding penalties, so what's happened? Between the Lines digs into the numbers, reveals their open-play improvement, and explains why the set-piece goals may start to flow again soon

Arsenal scored a Premier League-high 25 non-penalty set-piece goals on their way to winning the title last season. But have 'Set-piece FC' lost their not-so-secret edge?

Seven games into the new campaign, the Gunners are one of only four sides, along with Liverpool, Manchester United and Nottingham Forest, yet to score a non-penalty set-piece goal.

Arsenal's total last season included a record 19 from corners and made it five straight Premier League seasons in which they have scored at least 15 non-penalty set-piece goals.

The improvement coincided with addition of Nicolas Jover to their backroom staff in 2021. The set-piece coach has been described as a "genius" and remains an active presence on the touchline.

So why have the set-piece goals dried up? Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta put it down to luck in comments made earlier this month.

"My personal opinion is that we've done better things than last year in the first five games, but we have scored no goals. I think that's the reality of set-pieces. Sometimes we score a goal, or they score an own goal, and it's a set-piece goal, but we didn't do things well.

"It's an element of luck sometimes and I think this season we should have scored four and we haven't. So, if we maintain that, I think throughout the season we'll be in really good numbers, especially if we generate the amount of situations that we do."

Arteta had a point on Arsenal's wastefulness. According to Opta, they rank as one of the Premier League's biggest underperformers relative to their set-piece expected goals this season.

The underlying data shows the Gunners have had set-piece chances worth 2.50 expected goals. Only Liverpool and Nottingham Forest have underperformed by a bigger margin.

There were examples during Sunday's win at the City Ground, where Kai Havertz and Gabriel Magalhaes headed good set-piece chances over the bar from Declan Rice deliveries.

Earlier this season, Riccardo Calafiori missed an excellent chance from a Martin Odegaard free-kick against Chelsea. There was another notable opportunity against Aston Villa, when Zion Suzuki saved Rice's header from a Bukayo Saka corner.

It was a different story last season, when Arsenal ranked at the other end of the scale for expected goal performance, scoring nearly four goals more than expected, based on chance quality.

Arteta believes their luck will turn soon. The underlying data offers encouragement on that front. But like all sides, Arsenal are also having to adapt to the Premier League's clampdown on grappling, holding and blocking from corners this season.