Nineteen goals from corners
Arsenal scored 19 goals from corners last season. No Premier League side had ever managed that many. Add four free-kicks, four penalties and two goals from throw-ins and the total from dead balls reaches 29, comfortably the most in the division.
The gap to everyone else was not close. Arsenal finished with a +14.1 expected goals differential from set-piece situations, a full 5.1 clear of Brentford in second. They won the title scoring only 71 goals, a modest figure by champion standards, behind a defence that shipped just 27. Dead balls covered the difference.
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Referees told to clamp down
Officials have been instructed to take a stricter view of holding and grappling in the box at set-pieces this season. The guidance singles out “clear holding actions that have clear material impact” and “non-footballing holding actions”. VAR gains a new power as part of a trial: it can review incidents that happen before a set-piece if they lead directly to a goal, a penalty or a disciplinary sanction.
Nobody knows yet how firmly any of that will be applied. Arsenal have more to lose from it than anyone.
Mikel Arteta has at least added a specialist. Christos Tzolis delivered eight of his 23 assists in the Belgian top flight last season from set-pieces, a 34.7% share and the fifth-highest of any player with five or more assists. He picked up another in a pre-season friendly against Real Betis, whipping an inswinger in from the left.
A thinner defence to protect
The back line that made those numbers possible is short-handed. William Saliba entered a rehabilitation programme after carrying a back injury through the World Cup, and some reports suggest he may not return until later in the year. Jurrien Timber underwent groin surgery after the Champions League final. Ben White and Cristhian Mosquera step in, neither a like-for-like replacement.
Arsenal conceded 28.3 expected goals across the domestic campaign, the best figure in Europe’s top five leagues. Their average of 0.74 xG conceded per game ranks fourth-lowest in Premier League history since records began in 2012-13. Repeating that with a rebuilt centre-back pairing asks a lot.
The wider picture
Arteta is now the longest-serving manager in the division, which says as much about the summer as it does about him. Nine clubs start under a new head coach, the most on an opening weekend since 1946-47. Among realistic title rivals, only Michael Carrick at Manchester United and Unai Emery at Aston Villa were in place before June.
Arsenal open at home to Coventry City on Friday. They have not retained a top-flight title since 1935.
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