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A key narrative of England's top flight season so far is the decline of scoring in open play and the way sides have been scoring more from dead-ball situations as an alternative.

Looking at how goals have been scored 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, resulting in 13 less overall.

If we look at the bigger picture, shot attempts sides are producing reveal a staggering 370 fewer in open-play than at this stage last season.

Regardless of the big increase in set-play finishes, we've actually seen just two more attempts generated from them excluding spot-kicks, indicating the efficiency teams have been at devising strategies to convert from set-pieces.

Goal Averages Show an Interesting Narrative

301 total goals notched in 110 games to date works out at nearly 2.75 goals per game, if this persists for all 38 games would be the lowest for since 2020-21, back in 2020-21 (2.69).

But just 196 scores scored in open play averages out 1.78 each match and is on course to be the least for since 2009-10, since 2009-10 (1.76 average).

The 2009-10 season is also the sole English top-flight season to witness goals scored more often from dead-balls without spot-kicks than this campaign's frequency of 0.77 per fixture (0.79 average).

Which Teams Bear the Most Responsibility?

Regarding goals scored from open-play, Wolverhampton Wanderers have recorded by far the biggest drop, netting just four in 11 games, 10 less than at this stage last season.

Apart from Wolverhampton, the Premier League's fall in goals from open play is predominantly a trend among London clubs, with five out of the city's seven teams scoring five or more goals fewer from open-play than the prior season.

To be fair, this is mainly because them scoring numerous scores at the start of last season instead of them having difficulty to find the net in open play this season.

Conversely Man City have experienced the largest rise, with nearly all of their 23 goals to date arriving in open-play.

Dead-Ball Dominance

Comparing the promoted teams with the teams that went down they took the place of. Play-off champions the Black Cats have netted three extra scores in open play than the Saints achieved in matchday 11 leading to the drop last season.

In terms of goals scored from set-plays (not counting spot-kicks), the Gunners and the Blues have experienced the largest rise, with both sides replacing the five fewer goals that they've produced in open-play with an equal amount from set-pieces.

Manchester United have recorded two times more scores from set-plays as they achieved in the 11 games last season ahead of the manager took over, while Sunderland additionally have been more effective at converting than the similar-colored team they replaced.

Manchester City seem unaware of the message about scoring more from set-plays, as they've scored three fewer than the previous campaign, like Forest, although that might be down to the change in style they're working to install.

Overall Patterns

Six clubs – the Gunners, the Blues, Fulham, the Magpies, Tottenham and the Hammers – have been the current campaign's top trend-setters by netting less scores from open-play and more from set-pieces, while Manchester City are the only side to defy the pattern to date by achieving the contrary.

It remains to be seen to see if clubs carry on to depend greatly on set-pieces as the campaign progresses or if they rediscover their all-round creativity and start scoring additional scores in open play too.