Championship Corners: Who Are the Most Dangerous Sides in 2024-25?

Corners get fans excited. Maybe a little too excited, as under 3% of them have led to a goal in the Championship this season. Some teams are better at them than others, though, so we look at the data behind corner kicks so far in 2024-25.

A lot of emphasis is put on the importance of corners. Fans get excited when their team wins one and the expectation of a goal is unusually high for a set-piece situation that rarely leads to a goal.

As José Mourinho’s once said, “how many countries can you think of where a corner kick is treated with the same applause as a goal? One. It only happens in England. This is the only place where a corner kick is as good as a goal for the fans.”

Goals from corners have been even harder to come by in the Championship this season than usual, even if we’re only a third of the way through the season. Just 2.9% of corners in the English second tier have led to a goal in the first passage of play after it’s taken. That’s the lowest rate in the last 10 years, while the proportion of the total goals in the Championship that have come from corner situations is also the lowest it’s been in that period (12.4%).

This is a pattern that’s mirrored in the Premier League with just 3.0% of corners leading to a goal and 11.8% of goals coming from corner situations in 2024-25 to date.

While it’s a trend to keep an eye on for the remainder of the campaign, it’s maybe too early to suggest corners are less effective than ever before. Instead, we’re going to take a look at the individual teams and players that have been most effective at corners this season, and those that have struggled at both ends of the pitch.

There have been 1,932 corners taken in the Championship this season, with only 326 (16.9%) seeing the first involvement following the corner being a shot at goal.

Corners are seen as a good opportunity to maximise scoring opportunity as they are essentially a free hit to getting the ball into a dangerous area, however crowded that area may be. For some clubs, the more crowded the area, the better – we have seen how well Arsenal have exploited corners in recent seasons under Mikel Arteta by packing the six-yard box.

Overall this season, 712 of the total corners (36.8%) in the Championship have seen a shot attempted within the first passage of play following a corner (not required to be directly assisted by the corner), with 56 of those producing a goal (2.9% of corners).

Of course, you can attempt more than one shot from a corner situation, so the total number of shots attempted from corner situations this season is 809. This means that 18.6% of shots in the Championship this season have come from corner situations. Clearly, they are an important part of the game, but who is using them best?

Most Threatening Sides from Attacking Corners

Some teams are more productive than others. Luton Town lead the Championship for corners with the first involvement being a shot (30), the most corners leading to at least one shot in that phase of play (47), and the most overall shots that have arrived following a corner (54). The majority of these have come from Alfie Doughty’s deliveries.

Doughty has assisted chances worth nearly double the xG of any other Championship player so far in 2024-25 (2.18), while Luton have scored six goals following his corners. He also leads the rankings for corners leading to at least one shot (45), but these statistics are helped by Luton’s full-back taking 34 more corners than any other player.

He takes almost all of Luton’s corners, and he provides a dangerous outswinging corner from the left side and inswingers from the right.

Luton (5.8%) are behind Derby County (8.1%) in the Championship for proportion of corners leading to goals, however. The Rams have scored seven goals following their 86 corners, with Nathaniel Méndez-Laing taking seven of those – although only two of the seven came as the first action following the corner.

When it comes to dangerous individuals, nobody in the Championship has made the first contact at attacking corners more than Queens Park Rangers’ Jimmy Dunne. He’s been on the end of 17 of their corners, with no other player at the club making the attacking first contact more than five times. Just one of those has led to a goal, however, with Dunne heading home in the 2-2 draw at Sheffield United with a near-post flick.

Unsurprisingly, based on what we’ve already told you about Luton’s corners this season, it’s central defender Mark McGuinness who has attempted the most shots via first contacts (11). However, none of those have resulted in a goal yet.

Inswinger or Outswinger?

Of the 1,594 crossed corners taken in the Championship this season (some are taken short), the vast majority are inswinging or outswinging – only 25 have been deemed ‘straight’.

Inswinging corners have made up 62% of crossed corners in the competition this season, with no side preferring to do so more than Watford. Of their 71 crossed corners, just one has been an outswinger, while one of their inswinging corners even went straight into the back of the net, when Edo Kayembe scored direct from one in the season opener away at Millwall.

Only seven clubs have fired in a higher proportion of outswinging corners than inswinging corners, with Oxford United doing so most (69.2% of corners outswinging).

Hull City are the only team to take more than half of their corners in the Championship this season short (59.5%), with 50 of their 84 corners taken this way. It’s not been a particularly successful tactic in terms of shot quality following corners – their 1.92 xG from corner situations is the fourth lowest – but they have nonetheless scored three goals from corner routines (all following a short corner), which is more than 11 clubs.

Corners a Problem Area for Sheffield Wednesday

There are four clubs who are yet to score a goal following a corner this season: Norwich City, Oxford United, Plymouth Argyle and Sheffield Wednesday.

Of those sides, Sheffield Wednesday have taken the most without success (104), which is more than Oxford and Plymouth combined (90). The Owls have attempted 32 shots in the phase of play following a corner without success and 29 as the first action following a corner.

At the other end of the pitch, Danny Röhl’s side have conceded a league-high six goals following corners (level with QPR) despite facing just 70 – the sixth fewest. That means that 8.6% of the corners given away by Wednesday this season have led to an opposition goal, which is another league high.

Plymouth have also underwhelmed at defensive corners, conceding five times from 109 corners. They have allowed their opponents a league-high 57 shots in the phase after a corner, and the highest xG from these situations (1.73).

At the other end of the spectrum, Oxford United have an exceptional record when conceding corners. They have faced the most opposition corners in the Championship this season but are yet to concede a single goal from one – one of only five sides to do so, alongside West Brom, Leeds, Sunderland and Burnley.

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