By Opta Analyst | Created at 2026-08-06 14:58:54 | Updated at 2026-08-06 15:50:08
1 hour ago
A new Premier League season is upon us. FPL managers are busy deciding their squads, so we thought we’d assist them with their squad building. In the first of a new series, we look at how and why set-piece takers will be of the utmost importance once again in 2026-27.
Modern football is obsessed with marginal gains, and every Premier League club is looking for an edge. Increasingly, many are finding it from set pieces. More than half of the teams in the division now employ a dedicated set-piece coach, and those who don’t risk falling behind.
To help uncover the players who thrive the most in set-piece situations, we’ve teamed up with Solio Analytics, whose Fantasy Premier League platform combines Opta’s detailed football data with FPL-specific analysis to generate data-driven insights for managers.
Set-Pieces Are More Important Than Ever
Austin MacPhee, one of football’s most highly rated set-piece coaches, moved from Aston Villa to Chelsea this summer, and the language used to describe his job switch serves to highlight the growing importance attributed to this area of the game.
“The Scottish coach, 46, joins for an undisclosed release-clause fee in his contract amid competition from other Premier League and Saudi Pro League teams”, BBC Sport reported in a standalone piece that had as much in common with an article penned to announce a player transfer.
And why shouldn’t it? The data suggests that set-piece coaches can be just as impactful.
During the 2025-26 Premier League campaign, 27.4% of all goals came from non-penalty set-pieces, the second-highest proportion in the competition’s 34-season history, up from 20.6% in the previous campaign.
Goals from corners were at an all-time high too, accounting for 18% of all goals, up from 12.1% the season before.
Click Image to EnlargeIt might not be the most popular trend, but the evidence is clear: the set-piece revolution was televised.
Knowing which players take set pieces – and which players get the lion’s share of targets – has never been more important for FPL managers.
Strongest Set-Piece Teams
Let’s take a look at some of last season’s set-piece numbers with a view to identifying where FPL managers should focus their attention for the upcoming campaign.
Including corners, indirect free-kicks, direct free-kicks and throw-ins – while removing penalties – title-winners Arsenal led the way from set pieces in 2025-26.
The Gunners scored an incredible 25 non-penalty set-piece goals, while only conceding eight such goals in return, for a positive swing of 17 goals.
Surprisingly, it was Tottenham Hotspur – despite finishing one place above the relegation zone – who were the second-best team from set plays last season, with a positive swing of 10 goals.
Their set-piece coach, Andreas Georgson, joined the club alongside Thomas Frank, but has remained at Spurs despite their various managerial changes since. You could make a strong case for Georgson being the key reason Spurs aren’t currently a Championship side.
Coventry City were the standout team from set pieces in the Championship last season. With 29 non-penalty set-piece goals scored and 13 conceded, their positive swing of 16 goals would have ranked second in the Premier League last season.
It goes without saying that they will not be able to repeat those numbers in the Premier League, but it’s a notable strength of theirs, and they have by far the most potential in this regard of the three promoted teams.
Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Liverpool, with 20 non-penalty set-piece goals conceded each, allowed the most goals in this manner in the Premier League last season. Palace’s negative swing of nine goals was the worst in the division.
Interestingly, Andoni Iraola has taken his set-piece coaching staff with him from Bournemouth to Liverpool, which suggests that the Reds’ struggles in this area are unlikely to be solved quickly.
We Need to Talk About Bruno
On the player side, we have no choice but to begin with Bruno Fernandes.
The Manchester United star assisted 21 goals in the Premier League last season, setting a new competition record. That headline figure has helped make him the second most expensive player in FPL this season, setting managers back £12.0m.
Solio’s predicted points feature agrees with Fernandes’ status as the game’s second most dangerous player. They project an average of 6.12 points-per-game for the United captain across the first six gameweeks, second only to Erling Haaland (6.57), who comes in at £15.5m.
Click Image to EnlargeHis brilliance at set plays is clearly a key contributor. In 2025-26, he equalled Steven Gerrard’s record for the most assists from set-piece situations in a single Premier League campaign, with 11; seven of those assists came from first-time crosses when taking corners or indirect free-kicks.
This brings us to an important element to consider when selecting players based on their likelihood to take set pieces, especially when it comes to corners: inswinging corners are very much in vogue in the Premier League, and this has a significant impact on player totals.
The Rise of the Inswinging Corner
There were 2,643 inswinging corners last season, compared to just 541 outswingers. That means the majority of teams preferred to have left-footed takers from the right side, and right-footed takers from the left side. That trend is reflected in Solio’s projection for Bruno Fernandes, with United’s corner taker from the right more likely to be one of Bryan Mbeumo or Luke Shaw – both left-footed options.
Everton’s James Garner, who is right-footed, took the most corners in the Premier League last season, but only 10 of his 110 corners came from the right side.
It was his left-footed teammate Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall who instead took charge from the right, with all 43 of his corners last season coming from that side.
When it comes to which players to target, here’s who Solio currently project are most likely to take corners for each club:
Arsenal: Rice left corners, Saka right corners
Aston Villa: Cash left, Digne/McGinn right
Bournemouth: Scott/Kluivert left, Tavernier/Brooks right
Brentford: Jensen/Damsgaard left, Janelt/Ouattara right
Brighton: Groß/Kadıoğlu left, De Cuyper/Minteh right
Chelsea: James/Fernández left, Neto/Estêvão right
Coventry: Grimes/Torp left, Grimes/Rudoni right
Crystal Palace: Yeremy/Johnson left, Wharton/Hughes right
Everton: Garner left, Dewsbury-Hall right
Fulham: Lukić/Iwobi left, Lukić/Bobb right
Hull: Slater/Giles left, Belloumi/Giles right
Ipswich: Núñez/Clarke left, Davis/Núñez right
Leeds: Stach left, Wilson/Stach right
Liverpool: Szoboszlai/Gakpo left, Szoboszlai/Wirtz right
Man City: Cherki/Anderson left, Foden/Cherki right
Man Utd: Fernandes left, Mbeumo/Shaw right
Newcastle: Guimarães/Murphy left, Hall right
Nottm Forest: Williams/Ndoye left, Hutchinson/Hudson-Odoi right
Sunderland: Le Fée/Hume left, Xhaka right
Tottenham: Porro/Tel left, Kudus/Porro right
With teams clearly valuing inswingers, any potential incomings could have a significant impact on the output of incumbent players. Solio take this into consideration by constantly updating and modelling set-piece hierarchies before feeding that information into projections for goals, assists and bonus points.
Anton Stach vs Harry Wilson?
Leeds United’s Anton Stach bucked this overall trend, taking an even number of corners from either side of the pitch last season. This reflected Leeds’ unusually balanced approach to corner delivery; 52% of their crossed corners were inswingers, compared to between 69% and 96% for the other 19 teams in the league.
But was this based on desire or necessity? Leeds had enough left-footed players last season, but most were defenders or players not typically associated with creativity.
The signing of Harry Wilson, one of the Premier League’s most dangerous left-footers, is likely to provide clarity. Indeed, Solio’s assist projections already reflect Wilson as Leeds’ most likely corner taker from the right.
Back to Stach, though. On top of his corner volume, he also found success with three goals from direct free-kicks last season. His set-piece proficiency was a key part of his popularity with FPL managers last season. But that’s another area where Wilson’s arrival threatens to eat into his value as a cost-effective midfielder.
For 2026-27, Stach is priced up at £6.0m in FPL, while Wilson is marginally pricier at £6.5m. They actually performed at a similar level last season – Stach averaged 4.9 points per start, compared to 5.0 for Wilson.
Solio envisage Stach still providing a touch more value, with the pair’s projected points-per-game across the first 10 gameweeks noticeably tight – 3.70 for Wilson compared to 3.63 for Stach. Right now, it’s a case of wait and see, particularly given the uncertainty about Wilson’s potential minutes at the start of the season.
Is Dominik Szoboszlai a Must-Have?
Stach isn’t the only player whose value could hinge on changing set-piece dynamics – Dominik Szoboszlai is another player worth monitoring. Like Stach, the Hungarian often took corners from both sides of the pitch last season, sharing left-side duties with Cody Gakpo, and right-side duties with Mohamed Salah.
Given that Salah has left and Gakpo is linked with a move to Spurs, the expectation would naturally be that Szoboszlai’s corner volume will increase further, but the arrival of Iraola and his set-piece staff complicates matters.
Iraola’s Bournemouth opted for an inswinging corner more often than any other side in the Premier League last season (96.4%), narrowly ahead of Arsenal.
Solio currently regard Szoboszlai as the most likely corner taker from both sides, but their hierarchical rankings will continue to update based on any new information.
Liverpool are short on quality left-footers after Salah’s departure, so their hands may be tied, but be aware: continuity in approach from Iraola and his staff could have a genuine impact on Szoboszlai’s numbers.
He’s set to be a popular selection from the beginning in FPL regardless – he is currently in nearly half of teams – and Solio’s projections suggests he is great value at £7.0m.
Indeed, he is currently ranked sixth for projected points-per-game across the first 10 gameweeks (4.91), in line or ahead of more expensive players such as Cole Palmer (£9.5m; 4.98) and Antoine Semenyo (£8.5m; 4.79). The difference between Szoboszlai and players like Palmer and Semenyo is that he has a lot of different ways to score FPL points via set-pieces, goals, and even DEFCON.
Where Szoboszlai is safe from rotation is at free-kicks. Direct free-kick attempts may be on the decline – there were just 251 last season compared to 621 in 2003-04 – but Szoboszlai did his best to counteract that trend.
His 14 attempts from direct free-kicks were the most of any player last season, but more importantly, he made them count, scoring four times. Only David Beckham in 2000-01 and Laurent Robert in 2001-02, with five apiece, have bettered that return across a single Premier League campaign.
Szoboszlai is very much a talismanic figure for Liverpool, leading the team in many aspects. There’s even the possibility he takes a few penalties over the season given Alekander Isak’s durability issues.
Does Bruno Guimarães’ Potential Arrival Threaten Declan Rice’s Value?
The Hungarian being central to his team’s set-piece output is a commonality he shares with Declan Rice at Arsenal.
Indeed, Rice led all Arsenal players last season for corners (95), indirect free-kicks (130), crossed indirect free-kicks (45), direct free-kicks (5), and throw-ins into the penalty area (24).
But even Rice is fallible to the strict corner routines employed by Arsenal’s set-piece coach, Nicolas Jover. While he took 87 corners from the left, he took only eight from the right. Right-sided corners instead fell to Bukayo Saka (65) and Noni Madueke (38), who didn’t take a single left-sided corner between them.
Could the likely signing of Bruno Guimarães have an impact on Rice’s numbers? The Gunners scored an all-time record 19 corners last season, so they have no reason to switch things up, but the Brazilian has dead-ball qualities of his own.
Among the seven players to take at least 20 corners last season for Arsenal and Newcastle, Guimarães’ ended with a shot the most often (every 1.9 corners).
Notably, he also scored with both of his penalty attempts for Newcastle in 2025-26. Saka (1/1) and Viktor Gyökeres (3/3) had Arsenal’s penalties covered last season, but with the former likely to have his minutes managed, and the latter potentially sharing minutes with Kai Havertz, Arsenal may need a third penalty taker to step up.
This uncertainty is why Solio models projected set-piece hierarchies rather than relying only on last season’s data – it takes into account new signings as well.
Is Igor Thiago Overpriced?
One player we know won’t be giving up penalty duties is Brentford’s Igor Thiago. The Brazilian raced to notoriety last season with 22 goals in the Premier League, second only to Haaland (27).
He earned himself a place in Brazil’s World Cup squad as a result, ahead of João Pedro, but the Chelsea man actually outscored him 15 to 14 when removing penalties.
Thiago’s exploits have seen him elevated in price on FPL, up to £8.0m, making him the joint-third most expensive forward in the game, after Haaland (£15.5m) and Alexander Isak (£9.0m); but clearly much of his value comes from his penalties, and they aren’t easy to predict.
He took nine penalties last season (scoring eight), with Cole Palmer and Bruno Fernandes the only other players to take more than five. There have only been eight instances in Premier League history of a player taking more than nine penalties in a season.
Solio aren’t confident that Brentford will win enough penalties for Thiago to continue at the current rate – they currently have Haaland, Fernandes, Palmer and Pascal Groß (with Danny Welbeck moving on) projected to take more penalties than Thiago across the first 10 gameweeks.
Penalty takers are one of the biggest value levers in FPL, so they’re something Solio model obsessively. With several clubs still uncertain about spot-kick duties heading into the season, it’s an area they monitor closely and update throughout pre-season and beyond.
Thiago still feels adequately priced among the forwards; he is essentially guaranteed to play 90 minutes per game without being rotated, and he is projected to outscore Isak over the first 10 gameweeks despite costing £1m less.
Still, it’s certainly worth considering whether that money is better spent in midfield – Everton’s Iliman Ndiaye, for instance, is projected to outscore the Brazilian over the first 10 gameweeks despite being £2m cheaper.
Set-Piece Receivers to Target
With all this talk of set-piece takers, let’s take a quick look at the most common beneficiaries.
It was Pascal Struijk, who has joined Brighton & Hove Albion from Leeds this summer, who from the attacking perspective, made the first contact on the most crossed corners last season (19) – but he failed to score with any of his 16 shots from such situations.
Arsenal’s Gabriel Magalhães, who will cost £8.0m this season, is perhaps lower than expected; he made the first contact on 13 crossed corners, resulting in eight shots and one goal.
But it’s Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk who stood out in this regard, scoring a league-high four goals after making the first contact on crossed corners.
Using Opta data, Solio’s tools also allow users to sort players by expected goals from set plays (excluding penalties) for last season.
Newcastle’s Malick Thiaw tops the list with 4.7 xG, followed by the departed Man Utd midfielder Casemiro (4.1), and Man City’s Marc Guéhi (3.7).
Click Image to EnlargeAs set-pieces continue to account for an ever-growing share of Premier League goals, understanding who takes them and who benefits from them is becoming just as important as tracking goals and assists. Solio’s projections can help identify where the real FPL value lies, and we’ll be diving deeper into those numbers in future editions of this series.
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