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A major talking point of England's top flight season so far concerns the reduction of scoring in open-play scenarios and the way sides are finding goals increasingly from set-plays instead.

Looking at how goals have been scored to matchday 11 the prior season, there have been 39 fewer goals in open-play and an increase of 26 from set-plays and penalties, resulting in 13 less in total.

Examining overall statistics, efforts on goal clubs are making reveal a staggering 370 fewer in open-play than at this stage previously.

Regardless of the notable jump in dead-ball scores, we've actually seen only two additional shots produced from these situations excluding spot-kicks, indicating the proficiency sides have been at discovering methods to convert from dead-ball chances.

Goal Averages Tell a Story

Over 300 goals recorded in 110 games so far works out at nearly 2.75 goals per game, if this persists for all 38 games would be the least for five years, back in 2020-21 (2.69 average).

However, only 196 scores scored in open play averages out 1.78 per fixture and is on course to be the smallest for since 2009-10, back in 2009-10 (1.76 average).

2009-10 also marks the sole English top-flight season to see scoring more frequently from set-plays excluding penalties than this campaign's frequency of 0.77 each match (0.79 per game).

Which Sides Are Most Responsible?

In terms of goals scored from open-play, Wolverhampton Wanderers have experienced the most significant decline, registering a mere four in their first 11 fixtures, 10 fewer than this point last season.

Apart from Wolverhampton, the EPL's fall in open play goals is very much a trend among London clubs, with five out of the London's seven clubs netting a minimum of five goals fewer from open-play than the prior season.

Honestly, that's largely down to them netting lots of goals at the beginning of the previous campaign rather than them having difficulty to convert in open play this campaign.

Conversely Manchester City have recorded the biggest increase, with nearly all of the 23 they've scored this season coming in open play.

Set-Play Proficiency

Looking at clubs that came up with those that were relegated they took the place of. Play-off champions Sunderland have recorded three extra scores in open-play than the Saints did in their first 11 games on their way to demotion the previous campaign.

Regarding goals scored from set-plays (not counting spot-kicks), the Gunners and the Blues have recorded the biggest increase, with both sides replacing the five less goals that they've produced in open play with identical figures from dead-ball chances.

United have scored two times more scores from set-plays as they achieved in matchday 11 the previous campaign prior to the manager took over, while the Black Cats additionally prove more effective at netting than the fellow red-and-whites that went down.

Manchester City appear not to have received the memo about scoring more from set-plays, since they've recorded three fewer than last season, like Nottingham Forest, although this could be because of the tactical shift they've attempted to adopt.

League-Wide Trends

Six teams – Arsenal, Chelsea, the Cottagers, the Magpies, Spurs and the Hammers – have been the current campaign's top trend-setters by recording fewer goals from open-play and more from set-pieces, while Man City stand as the unique club to go against the grain to date by achieving the complete reverse.

It will be fascinating to see if sides persist to depend greatly on set-plays as the campaign progresses or if they find again their general attacking flair and start scoring more goals in open-play as well.