The importance of set pieces grows every year in the Premier League, with clubs constantly coming up with new avenues and approaches to make the most of these unique situations in games.

It is now a common sight to see your clubs set-piece coach gesticulating on the touchline every time a ball goes out for one of these situations; some clubs even have throw-in coaches now to ensure that every possible advantage is accounted for in a game of very fine margins. 

With these developments in mind, we take a look at some of the best set-piece takers across the Premier League as well as analyse which club could make the most of these situations in the upcoming season.

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🥅 Penalty Takers

There were 83 penalties awarded in the Premier League last season, a massive drop off from the 107 that were awarded in the 2023/24 season. This is likely due to changes with VAR and referees being instructed to have a higher bar for penalties than other incidents on the field of play.

Liverpool were awarded the most penalties in the Premier League last season, with nine spot kicks, the Reds converted all nine of these penalties - only Brighton also maintained a 100% conversion rate with their seven penalties. 

Penalties were common at the Amex last season, with Brighton also conceding the joint highest number of spot kicks (9) alongside Southampton and Wolves, with all nine of these penalties being converted. Brentford conceded the fewest penalties in the Premier League last season, with the Bees giving up just one spot kick, which is testament to their ability to keep the opposition out of their box. 

When it comes to the worst penalty takers in the Premier League, Aston Villa take that unfortunate crown with just 50% of their six penalties finding the back of the net, way below the league average of around 85%.

Team Penalty Takers

🔴 Arsenal - Saka (Odegaard, Gyokeres)

🟣 Aston Villa - Watkins (Tielemans)

🍒 Bournemouth - Kluivert (Evanilson, Semenyo)

🐝 Brentford - Thiago Rodrigues

🐦 Brighton - Welbeck (De Cuyper)

🟣 Burnley - Brunn Larsen (Flemming, Edwards)

🔵 Chelsea - Palmer (Pedro, Delap)

🦅 Crystal Palace - Mateta (Eze)

🔵 Everton - Ndiaye (Beto)

⚪ Fulham - Jimenez

🟡 Leeds - Piroe 

🔴 Liverpool - Salah 

🔵 Manchester City - Haaland (Marmoush)

🔴 Manchester United - Fernandes 

🐦‍⬛ Newcastle - Isak (Gordon)

🌳 Nottingham Forest - Wood

🐈‍⬛ Sunderland - Le Fee

⚪ Tottenham - Solanke (Tel)

⚒️ West Ham - Paqueta (Fullkrug, Bowen)

🐺 Wolves - Strand Larsen (Arias)

🦵🏼 Free Kick Takers

There were 13 direct free kicks scored in the Premier League last season, with only Manchester United, Chelsea and Brighton scoring more than one during the 24/25 season. This would suggest that many managers have accepted that scoring from these situations is near impossible, or at the very least extremely unlikely - so unless the free kick is in a direct shooting position, sides tend to try and set up a chance rather than take aim at goal.

Half of the Premier League clubs last season didn’t manage to score a goal directly from a free kick last season. Across the past six seasons between 3.62% and 6.84% of all direct free kick shots have resulted in goals, in other words - it’s just not worth it for the majority of the sides with the chances of brilliance being incredibly low - this is why Declan Rice’s two free kick goals in the quarter finals of the Champions League last season were so impressive.  

The set piece specialists over the last few seasons in Arsenal have not scored a direct free kick since 2021, despite having many players that could produce this moment of magic. It is worth noting that we have had a very slight increase in the number of direct free kick goals over the last season, there were 11 scored in the 23/24 season which rose to 13 last season. The number of free kick goals can’t really drop any lower than this so it is possible that we see another slight rise this season, though the general opinion amongst Premier League managers - especially those battling at the top of the league - is that free kicks generally aren’t worth playing the odds.

Team Free Kick Takers

🔴 Arsenal - Rice (Odegaard)

🟣 Aston Villa - Digne (Tielemans)

🍒 Bournemouth - Tavernier 

🐝 Brentford - Damsgaard (Lewis Potter)

🐦 Brighton - Welbeck (De Cuyper)

🟣 Burnley - Flemming 

🔵 Chelsea - Palmer (James)

🦅 Crystal Palace - Eze (Wharton)

🔵 Everton - Garner (McNeil, Dewsbury-Hall)

⚪ Fulham - Wilson (Andreas)

🟡 Leeds - Stach (Piroe)

🔴 Liverpool - Szoboszlai (Kerkez, Mac Allister)

🔵 Manchester City - Foden (Marmoush)

🔴 Manchester United - Fernandes

🐦‍⬛ Newcastle - Schar 

🌳 Nottingham Forest - Gibbs White 

🐈‍⬛ Sunderland - Xhaka 

⚪ Tottenham - Porro 

⚒️ West Ham - Ward-Prowse (Paqueta)

🐺 Wolves - Arias (Bellegarde)

🚩 Set Piece Specialists

🔴 Club Set Pieces: Arsenal

Arsenal have been known to be an excellent side from set pieces for the last few seasons. The Gunners scored 15 goals from set pieces last season, only Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest scored more goals than Mikel Arteta’s side from these situations. 

This is a slight drop off from the 20 goals they scored from set pieces during the 23/24 season which was the most of any Premier League side and accounted for 21% of their total goals that season. This decrease is likely due to the fact that opposition sides are more prepared for the threat that Arsenal will pose from these situations. 

One metric that is really interesting from Arsenal’s 24/25 season is the number of goals they conceded from set pieces. Only Wolves and Southampton (20) conceded more goals from set piece situations than Arsenal last season (14) which would suggest that Arteta has some work to do to strengthen his backline from these situations.

Bizarrely, only Manchester City (82) conceded fewer shots from set piece situations than Arsenal last season (84) with Arsenal having the highest proportion of shots from set pieces finding the back of the net which would indicate that the chances that Arsenal are giving up are of a high quality - this could be something we see opposition sides target this season. 

🔴 Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest scored the most goals from set pieces in the Premier League last season (17), a tally accounting for 29% of their total goals last season which shows how important these set plays are to Nuno Espirito Santo’s side. 

Forest had 154 shots from set pieces last season (4.05 per game) which was the third highest in the Premier League last season behind Aston Villa and Crystal Palace. Forest overachieved their expected xG of 14.2 from these set piece situations which is a positive indicator to suggest that they continue to be strong from set pieces this season. 

Forest have managed to keep a hold of their main aerial threats in the opposition box in Wood, Murillo and Milenkovic who all scored from set piece situations last season. They’ve also managed to keep Morgan Gibbs-White despite strong interest from Tottenham, his delivery will be crucial if Forest want to maintain their impressive record from set pieces in the 25/26 season.

🟣 Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace ended the 24/25 season with the highest number of goals from set pieces with the Eagles scoring 16 goals from these situations. These set pieces accounted for 31.3% of Palace’s total goals last season so it is an area where they are very strong, but they may be overreliant on this avenue. 

On average, set piece goals accounted for 19.9% of a side's total goals in the Premier League last season. We can clearly see that Crystal Palace are well above this average, and their greatest threat comes from their three centre backs. 

Guehi, Lacroix and Richards combined for nine goal contributions last season with the most active of this trio being Marc Guehi who is heavily linked with a move to Liverpool which would certainly affect Crystal Palace’s set piece goal numbers next season.

* All odds displayed correctly at the time of publishing *