Arsenal strengthen set-piece dominance in frustrating draw against Fulham | OneFootball

Arsenal reinforced their reputation as Europe’s set-piece kings in a come-from-behind 1-1 draw at Fulham this afternoon.

Mikel Arteta’s team, after falling behind against the run of play, utilised a well-known strategy to secure a point, reducing their deficit to Premier League leaders Liverpool to six points, although Arne Slot’s team has a game in hand.

In the 52nd minute, William Saliba scored by tapping in a forward header from Kai Havertz, following a corner taken by Bukayo Saka. Since the start of the 2022-23 season, they’ve scored 36 Premier League goals from corner situations, at least 10 more than any other team during this period, with Liverpool in second place with 26 goals.

Arsenal’s impressive scoring ability from set pieces has become a prominent topic of discussion, as teams are increasingly cautious when conceding corners to them. This season, Arsenal have set themselves apart as the first team in the top five European leagues to create over ten major chances from set pieces.

Aston Villa are the next best in the Premier League, with six big chances, while Bayer Leverkusen and Auxerre have logged nine and eight, respectively.

In terms of set-play expected goals (xG), Arsenal is currently the top club in Europe, with a total of 8.73. They are followed by Aston Villa at 7.94 and Bayer Leverkusen at 7.13. Interestingly, all three of these clubs have managers from the same region in Spain, which raises the question: could there be something special in the Basque water?

In 2024, Arsenal scored 20 goals from set pieces in the Premier League, matching their highest total in a calendar year since 2009, excluding penalties. Equally impressive, they scored 15 goals from corners in the Premier League in 2024, their joint-most in a calendar year in the competition (also 15 in 2023).

Saka, who might have felt Havertz should have converted his corner before Saliba’s goal, thought he had won the game. However, VAR disallowed it because Gabriel Martinelli drifted into an offside position in the build-up.

The visitors from North London did enough to secure all three points, registering 12 shots with four on target, compared to Fulham’s two shots, of which only one was on target and managed to break the deadlock. The goal mirrored Arsenal’s typical style of play, but it differed slightly; it lacked the swashbuckling finesse that pins the opposition back and instead focused on a solid counter-offensive.

Raúl Jiménez’s opening goal in the 11th minute resulted from 23 consecutive passes. This sequence was reminiscent of a goal scored in this fixture before. However, it is worth noting that nearly all of those touches, made by every Fulham player except Adama Traore, occurred in their own half of the field.

It was their only shot in the first half, with an expected goals (xG) value of 0.03. Jimenez is one goal away from equaling Chicharito as the top Mexican scorer in Premier League history. Notably, all of his league goals this season have opened the scoring.

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