Why outswinging corners lead to more chances but

inswingers lead to more goals

Andy Jones (/author/andy-jones/) and Mark Carey (/author/mark-carey/) Oct 28, 2021 19

A corner. A roar goes up from the crowd.

It puzzled Jose Mourinho when he first came to England how fans reacted to their team winning a corner
kick “with the same applause as a goal”.

Yet corners are a valuable weapon in an attacking team’s armoury. But should they be inswinging or
outswinging?

In the past 10 Premier League seasons, 3.4 per cent of corners resulted in a goal. So far this season, we are
slightly above average at 4 per cent. In fact, last weekend, six teams in separate matches scored goals from a
corner. Arsenal, Southampton, Newcastle, Watford, Brentford and West Ham all profited while Chelsea also
won a penalty from a corner, which they converted.

A percentage of 3.4 may seem small but in Paul Power’s 2018 paper “Mythbusting set pieces in soccer”, which
was based on three seasons of Premier League data looking at 12,000 corners and 3,600 free kicks, it revealed
teams are actually more likely to score from set pieces (1.8 per cent) than from a normal open-play possession
(1.1 per cent).

But which type of corner is best and why do teams take such different approaches?

Football analytics experts StatsBomb looked into the success of each corner type across the top five European
leagues since 2019-20, and found that inswinging corners have a lower completion success (30 per cent)
compared with outswinging corners (42 per cent) with regard to reaching a team-mate.

But Power’s paper found that inswingers are more dangerous than outswingers. While outswingers have a
greater chance of leading to a shot (20.9 per cent compared to 18.6 per cent), shots taken from inswingers are
significantly more likely to result in goals (10.8 per cent, compared to 6.5 per cent) because they almost
always happen closer to the goal.
To confuse you even more, of the six goals scored in the recent round of Premier League
(https://theathletic.com/premier-league/) games from corners, four were outswinging corners and only two
were inswingers, with four being scored from headers, three of which were at the near post.

So who is best at corners this season?

Each team has their own routines and preferences. Of Burnley’s 43 corners so far this season, 42 have been
inswingers and zero have been outswingers. The other corner was straight. That is mainly due to the fact their
two primary corner takers, Ashley Westwood (right-footed) and Dwight McNeil (left-footed) both prefer to
take them from opposite sides and as that allows them to direct the ball closer to the goal for players such as
James Tarkowski and Ben Mee to attack.

On the other hand, Liverpool and Wolves are the two sides who favour outswingers. Liverpool want their
corners to go into dangerous areas but moving away from the goalkeeper. Wolves predominantly attack down
their right through Adama Traore so win more corners on that side. Thirty-five of their 41 corners this season
have been taken by right-footed players which therefore increases the chance of the delivery being an
outswinger.

That is a theme throughout. If your best set-piece takers are right or left-footed, that will influence the
number of outswinging and inswinging corners their side delivers.
Manchester City favour a short corner the most, accounting for over a third (36 per cent) of them, ahead of
Wolves (27 per cent) and Chelsea (19 per cent). Meanwhile, Newcastle are the only team who have not taken
a short corner.

So what makes the perfect corner?

“When someone heads it into the net,” chuckles former West Brom midfielder Chris Brunt, who was an
expert taker for many seasons.

“I guess it is when everything is done right that you have worked on during the week. The delivery is right
and the timing of the runs is right then you have a chance.”

Morten Gamst Pedersen, another former Premier League set-piece specialist, takes it even further. “The
perfect corner is one which ends in the goal,” he says, having scored three goals directly from corners this
season for Norwegian side Alta (https://theathletic.co.uk/2871925/2021/10/14/morten-gamst-pedersen-alta-
norway-blackburn-football/).

“It depends on the set-up. I prefer inswingers because the ball is going towards the target. Sometimes you
block the goalkeeper and aim for the near post and overcrowd the first zone, whipping it in just above the
crossbar. If the ball is swinging in it is hard to head it away. If the opponent does head it, he probably isn’t
going to get much distance on it so you can keep the pressure on.”

Brunt did not have a preference, backing his ability to produce either delivery although when he was playing
under Tony Pulis at West Brom, the manager always wanted inswingers. Over a number of seasons they were
extremely successful.

“If you have big lads who want to go and head it, the closer they are to the goal the better,” says Brunt. “I
think it was also to do with getting hit on the counter-attack as well as trying to score. If you put an
outswinger in, it is swinging away from the goal.”

Pedersen adds: “For inswingers, the curve is going into the goal. If nobody touches it the ball might end up in
the net. It is a bigger risk and a smaller margin to aim for but getting it close to the goalline, if someone
touches it, it is difficult to miss or someone might make a mistake.”

An average set-piece taker will win a team 0.9 points while an elite set-piece taker will win 1.9 points. It
means set-piece specialists are more valuable to teams lower in the table compared to a top-six side because
they will contribute to a higher percentage of the team’s total points.

On average, Brighton have the best success in their pass completion of crosses from corners, with 49 per cent
of their crosses reaching a team-mate this season. Burnley have the second-lowest (19 per cent), with only
Watford (https://theathletic.com/team/watford/) worse (18 per cent). Sean Dyche’s side have scored three
goals though which illustrates the high-risk, high-reward strategy inswinging corners can provide.

It may make it easier for attackers, but not for goalkeepers and defenders.

“I hated inswingers more because the ball is coming towards you and you have a load of people running
towards you in a tight area and a lot can happen,” explains The Athletic’s goalkeeper analyst Matt Pyzdrowski.
“Especially when the ball is hit with pace and to the front post. It’s such a deadly area as the attacking team
can head it towards goal or flick the ball to the back post. Small deflections can make a huge difference.”

Plenty of work goes into planning corners before the game. Analysts and coaches will look to spot weaknesses
in the opposition’s set-up and how they can exploit them, especially when they are one of your best attacking
threats. Routines would be thought out and practised.

Pedersen would watch opposition goalkeepers to spot patterns. The former Blackburn man refers to Sam
Allardyce’s message which has stuck with him throughout his career. His former manager would tell his
players it was an opportunity to place the ball down with nobody pressing you and pick a spot. It is rare you
get that in football so it is important not to waste it.

“We look at how the other team set up,” Burnley’s Dwight McNeil tells The Athletic. “Do the opposition
man-mark or mark zonally? We don’t mind either way because we always find weaknesses if they man-mark
because we can block within the rules of the game or zonally we can target areas. Do they leave men on the
post? How many men do they bring out short? What type of delivery should we use?”

At West Brom, Brunt trusted his delivery, and so did the coaching staff, so work went on more with the
players in the middle in a couple of sessions they did during training every week.

It is not just the player who heads the ball that is important, every player will have a role such as making a
decoy run or acting as a blocker on an opposition player or on the goalkeeper.

“One of my biggest pet hates was if a goalkeeper came out and caught a corner under no pressure. It is the
worst,” says Brunt.

Each side will have signals for each routine, and can go into the game with a number of them. They can be
codewords, a bounce of the ball or fixing of a shin pad which will be decided when preparing to take the
corner. Pedersen’s current side have four or five, including one called “Russia” which aims to isolate somebody
one-on-one at the back post by flooding players into the near post as a decoy.

Zonal marking has become much more common in the modern game, with teams usually setting up
defensively with their three best headers of the ball lined up along the six-yard line. Then the rest will either
occupy zones or man-mark the attackers who are running in from the edge of the box. There are ways to
exploit it.

“There are so many clever blocks and movements and variety of delivery that man-marking is quite dangerous
and counterproductive as it’s easier for players to get free,” says Pyzdrowski.

Brunt explains: “We always looked to overload one zone. Which zone would depend on the opposition but
you try to create a two or three-versus-one situation in your favour and isolate them and then you have the
run-up on them too.”

Outswinging corners can make it easier for a goalkeeper to come and collect the ball compared to inswingers
but it can also be used to the advantage of the attacking team.
“I think outswingers can lend more to exploiting zonal marking,” says Brunt. “You are standing it up in an
area which makes it a slower ball. It is further away from the goalkeeper and gives your players the chance to
run into a zone and meet it at pace (which allowed Juraj Kucka to score Watford’s equaliser against Everton).
That helps.”

More teams are beginning to bring in specialist coaches specifically to coach set pieces. Pedersen does not
believe that is a necessity but he stresses the importance of focusing on set pieces.

“I think they (set-piece coaches) are a great idea,” adds Brunt. “Any small gain you can get. There is so much
riding on games, especially in the Premier League. Imagine if you lose out on survival by one goal conceded
from a set piece.

“At the end of the day though, it is about the desire to score or defend it. That is the be-all and end-all of it.”

So what type of corners does your team take?

Arsenal (https://theathletic.com/team/arsenal/)

Arsenal began this season with new set-piece coach Nicolas Jover arriving from Manchester City. He joined
as Andreas Georgeson’s replacement as the Swede returned to former club Malmo as sporting director.

They excelled defensively under Georgeson last season but struggled with attacking set pieces, scoring just six
goals from corners.

Jover’s difference in approach to attacking set pieces has been noticeable, but not particularly fruitful. The
Athletic analysed Arsenal’s new corner routines in pre-season
(https://theathletic.com/2764470/2021/08/12/the-arsenal-signing-you-wont-know-but-who-will-play-a-
crucial-role-this-season/), and there were two main methods.

The first method involved two men on the corner, going short and then trying to work a shooting
opportunity just outside the box. The second had one player in the six-yard box, a group of three rushing into
the six-yard box and a pair splitting to the near and far post.

Nicolas Pepe and Martin Odegaard being the designated takers (both left-footed) explains why just 22 per
cent of Arsenal’s corners are inswingers. After assisting Arsenal’s first Premier League goal of the season
scored directly from a corner against Aston Villa (with the second aforementioned approach), Emile Smith
Rowe admitted there are efforts to balance those figures.

“(With) set pieces, I’ve been trying to work hard. We haven’t got many right-footed set-piece takers, so I’ve
been working on it,” he said post-match.

Aston Villa (https://theathletic.com/team/aston-villa/)

You’ve all seen the guy with the long blond hair barking out orders every time Villa get a corner kick, right?
That’s Austin MacPhee, the set-piece coach who takes special training sessions to prepare the players for a
match day.

Villa have been a threat from corners this season, already scoring twice through that particular route, and
often mixing up their approach.

Douglas Luiz is proving to be the most accurate so far with his inswinging deliveries. It was the Brazilian who
set up Kortney Hause for his goal at Manchester United, and also Luiz who forced Lucas Digne to divert
into his own net in the 3-0 win over Everton. Both crosses were fizzed into the near post, the most common
target area from Villa’s takers who also include John McGinn, Emi Buendia and Leon Bailey when fit.

Typically it’s Tyrone Mings or Ezri Konsa, the two towering centre-halves, who are targeted in the box, but
Danny Ings has missed two decent opportunities too.

McGinn often lurks on the edge of the box when he’s not tasked with providing the delivery, and clearly Villa
have been looking at ways to find him in space on the few occasions they’ve gone short. Of the 49 corners
won, only 11 have been met by a Villa player in the box, a figure that needs to be worked on.

Brentford (https://theathletic.com/team/brentford/)

With the aerial presence of Ivan Toney, Ethan Pinnock and Pontus Jansson, Brentford could be forgiven for
merely lumping the ball into the box at corners and hoping for the best.

Instead, their set pieces seem to draw inspiration from an NFL playbook. Bernardo Cueva, the club’s tactical
statistician, springs to the edge of the technical area and makes a series of signals to the players. Dummy runs,
clever layoffs and some intricate movement pulls opposition defenders out of position, before Bryan Mbeumo
or Sergi Canos supply the delivery.

Brentford employ a high-risk/high-reward strategy at corners and normally put all of their outfield players,
apart from Rico Henry, in or just around the box. Seventy-nine per cent of their corners have been inswingers
so far, and in total they’ve scored twice, when Toney gave them the lead in their 1-1 draw against Aston Villa
and more recently, Mathias Jorgensen’s equaliser against Leicester.

Brighton

The resurrection of Shane Duffy from a loan spell at Celtic last season that didn’t work out, combined with
the pinpoint deliveries of Pascal Gross, has played a big role in Brighton’s threat from corners this season.

They opt for outswingers more than inswingers to make room to exploit Duffy’s aerial power.

That’s been the case since the opening home game of the season in August against Watford.

Adam Webster and Alexis Mac Allister made runs towards the near post, leaving Duffy to find space between
two defenders to head in Gross’s corner from eight yards.
Duffy’s had the most attempts at goal from corners of any player in the Premier League (13), Gross has
created the fourth most chances from set plays (11).

Duffy’s not the only threat. Fellow central defenders Webster (when he’s been fit) and captain Lewis Dunk
are both strong in the air at corners as well.
 Brighton’s Duffy celebrates after scoring direct from a corner against Watford (Photo: Steve Bardens/Getty Images)

Burnley

Every Friday, Burnley will practise corners and they will not stop until the entire team is happy with them and
they have performed their routines well. They are one of the club’s strengths and a lot of work goes on behind
the scenes to identify opposition weaknesses and exploit them.

Burnley’s two primary corner takers are Ashley Westwood and Dwight McNeil, although Maxwel Cornet has
added his name to the mix since arriving in the summer. Both prefer to take inswinging corners, a decision
which is pre-determined and is illustrated by the fact that, of the 43 corners they have taken, 42 have been
inswingers and none have been outswingers with the other one being straight.

James Tarkowski and Ben Mee are the two main targets. They will stand close together towards the edge of
the box and make differing runs, attacking the ball.
Where Burnley aim the delivery will be opposition-dependent but usually it will be directed towards the six-
yard box, with players surrounding the goalkeeper to put pressure on him, restricting his influence and giving
Burnley’s players a better chance of winning the header.

Chelsea (https://theathletic.com/team/chelsea/)

Chelsea appear to have made a bit of a change to their corner-kick routines this season compared to last,
namely who takes them.

Over the course of the previous campaign, Mason Mount would be the one who would take charge of the set
piece more often than not. Of the 195 corners Chelsea had in the Premier League during 2020-21, Mount
took 105 of them (54 per cent).
But there has been a significant dip as far as Mount’s involvement is concerned. He has overseen just 10 of
Chelsea’s 52 corners this season — only 19 per cent. (The England international has played in just seven of
Chelsea’s nine league fixtures and two of those appearances were as a substitute so that has to be taken into
account somewhat.)

However, it seems that Chelsea now prefer the wing-backs to be in charge for the vast majority of them.
Marcos Alonso (18), Ben Chilwell (16) and Reece James (4) have been responsible for 38 of the 52 (73 per
cent) taken. The number is even higher (81 per cent) if you include Callum Hudson-Odoi, who took four set
pieces against Aston Villa and he operated as a right wing-back for most of that fixture.

Crystal Palace (https://theathletic.com/team/crystal-palace/)

There is nothing particularly notable about Crystal Palace’s corners to date this season, which is in itself
rather interesting. It is wholly unsurprising that the primary target of their set pieces, including corners, is
Christian Benteke. The Belgian centre-forward is immense in the air and has won the most aerial duels per
90 minutes out of anyone outside the “big six” in the Premier League.

Before Luka Milivojevic’s return from compassionate leave, it was Conor Gallagher who was tasked with the
responsibility of delivering balls into the box, and although his corners were more likely to reach their
intended area and destination, Milivojevic was not too far behind. Michael Olise’s sole attempt with an in-
swinging left-footed corner in the 2-2 draw with Leicester City almost resulted in Jeffrey Schlupp scoring
with a flicked header.

Ultimately though, Palace’s corners have been relatively unthreatening. Benteke and Odsonne Edouard have
been the main focal points, but precious few corners have found them able to attack and threaten the
opposition goal. The former thought he had scored a late winner against Newcastle from one only for it to be
ruled out.

Still, it can’t be too much worse than the 2019-20 season’s attempts.
(https://theathletic.com/1909404/2020/07/08/crystal-palace-corners-chelsea/)

It is conceding from corners that ought to be more of a concern.

Everton (https://theathletic.com/team/everton/)

Last season Everton were often corner powerhouses but so far this term they’re toothless.

While Rafa Benitez’s side has a potent attacking threat from open play, their ability to score from corners has
diminished. They are yet to score from a corner this season, and their approach to them has changed
significantly.

Previously they have relied on the left foot of France international Lucas Digne (scoring 12 set-piece goals
last term) but the full-back has not always been delivering them lately.

Benitez prefers to spread the task, often asking Andros Townsend to take corners even when Digne is on the
pitch. Townsend has done so; using both feet depending on which side of the pitch he’s on and his fellow new
signing Demarai Gray has also taken a few.
Against QPR in the Carabao Cup, Benitez intervened from the technical area to prevent Digne taking one
corner and sent Townsend over instead.

The majority have been outswingers and, with strong attackers of the ball such as Yerry Mina and Michael
Keane, it is a surprise they have not scored from one yet.

Of course, the injury absence of Dominic Calvert-Lewin has not helped their corner prowess either, the
England striker is strong in the air and would have backed himself to get on the end of more of them.

Leeds

Marcelo Bielsa prefers an inswinger to an outswinger and to that end, corner takers at Leeds rotate depending
on where the opposition concede. Bielsa has Raphinha (arguably the best striker of a dead ball) to hit them
left-footed from the right and it usually falls to Stuart Dallas to take corners from the left.

For a long time, Kalvin Phillips had the honours. As a rule, Leeds prefer to attack the penalty area directly
rather than playing short. Last season, almost 90 per cent of their 229 corners went straight into the box.

It has to be said that over Bielsa’s tenure, attacking corners have not been a particular strength (and
defensively, they were a weakness during the first half of last season). Leeds tend to be most dangerous in
open play and aside from their centre-backs, there is not a significant amount of height in their squad.

Leicester

Leicester have had to have a little rethink with their attacking corners after the defeat by Brighton when they
had two goals disallowed. Harvey Barnes was given the job of standing on the goalkeeper that day and it was
Barnes who was ruled offside as both Jannik Vestergaard and Wilfred Ndidi had goals chalked off.
Now, if Leicester do put a player on the keeper, and they do change it up according to the opposition, he has
been much quicker to get back onside.

Usually, the three targets — whether that is Jonny Evans, Vestergaard, Caglar Soyuncu or Ndidi — make
their runs from 12 yards out centrally, while Jamie Vardy usually attacks the near post, but the takers have
rotated regularly between Youri Tielemans, James Maddison, Ryan Bertrand, Marc Albrighton, Kiernan
Dewsbury-Hall and Luke Thomas, depending on selection.

Liverpool (https://theathletic.com/team/liverpool/)

Jurgen Klopp’s side have had 78 corners in the Premier League so far this season — more than any other
team. It’s telling that 56 of them have been outswingers with just 10 inswingers (and the rest taken short).
The full-backs are largely tasked with trying to deliver the ball into dangerous central areas where it’s arcing
away from the goalkeeper. Trent Alexander-Arnold (36), Kostas Tsimikas (16) and Andy Robertson (15) have
taken the vast majority of them.
Klopp enlisted the services of German neuroscientists this summer to help improve their output from set
pieces. “We believe in the stimulus they give,” says assistant boss Pep Lijnders. “They give the right input for
players to find the right flow and with this more accuracy.”

The signs are promising, with five league goals coming from corners so far. The return to fitness of centre-
backs Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip has certainly bolstered Liverpool’s aerial threat. Van Dijk nodded down
Alexander-Arnold’s outswinger for Fabinho to score at Leeds. The big Dutchman also helped Tsimikas’
outswinger into the path of Mohamed Salah, who volleyed home against Crystal Palace.

Liverpool have also shown some decent variations this season. Also against Palace, Salah’s glancing near-post
header from Tsimikas’ delivery led to Sadio Mane scoring and Salah’s inswinger was volleyed in by Naby
Keita after the keeper had tried to punch clear. On other occasions from corners, Salah has lurked on the edge
of the box ready to pounce. At Norwich on the opening weekend, he latched on to a weak clearance to
hammer home in style.

Manchester City (https://theathletic.com/team/manchester-city/)

It’s no huge surprise to see that City like to play more short corners than everybody else in the league, as there
are a couple of good reasons for that. Firstly, they don’t pose an especially strong threat in the air, although
Ruben Dias, Aymeric Laporte/John Stones and Rodri are decent targets to aim for.

With that in mind, and given how many smaller, technically gifted players they have, it makes sense to try to
work an opportunity a different way, by getting the ball into something more like open play and cutting their
opponents open with a killer pass to the byline, for example. They have also scored from low shots outside of
the box following short corner routines in the past 18 months.

Short corners might also offer them a greater sense of security in terms of guarding against counter-attacks:
instead of lumping the ball into the box and risk losing a header, they could have more control by playing to
their strengths and getting the ball back into open play, if they don’t need to force the issue with a ball into
the box.

The majority of their corners still do go directly into the box so it’s not like they are reinventing the art, but
their tendency to go short over a third of the time is understandable.

Manchester United (https://theathletic.com/team/manchester-united/)

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have forced the third-most corners in the Premier League with 61, but trail
Liverpool (78) and Manchester City (76) by some distance, and are yet to score from one so far.

Luke Shaw tends to share responsibilities with Bruno Fernandes, with the left-foot/right-foot combination
allowing for flexibility over choice of delivery. United have a preference for outswinging (32) to inswinging
(19) — with five taken short — and that is how Harry Maguire went close against Atalanta, arriving onto a
Fernandes outswinging corner but failing to generate enough power to beat goalkeeper Juan Musso. (Maguire
did score with his boot moments later from a Fernandes cross.)

The theory is sound, with Maguire’s past two Premier League goals coming via the outswinging method. He
glanced a header inside the far post from an Alex Telles corner against Sheffield United and did the same at
Newcastle United from a Juan Mata delivery. Both came from left-footers. Shaw can do it too, with Maguire
heading in for England against Hungary in the same way.

Maguire’s first Premier League goal for United, at Stamford Bridge, came via a flat, inswinging corner from
Fernandes, however.

United have a new set-piece coach for this season, Eric Ramsay, and a few variations have been noticeable,
including two short-corner routines against Aston Villa. But the invention has yet to find success.

Manchester United appointed Eric Ramsay as their set-piece coach this summer (Photo: Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images)

Newcastle United (https://theathletic.com/team/newcastle-united/)

How informative this will be about Newcastle’s set-piece routines going forward is anyone’s guess. There was
a change however in Graeme Jones’ first game in “interim” charge as Newcastle scored from a corner via a
Callum Wilson overhead kick.

During Steve Bruce’s final eight league matches as head coach — all winless — Newcastle had 34 corners and
managed to score from just one of those. Even then, it was not direct from the corner; instead, after the ball
was half-cleared by Watford, Allan Saint-Maximin (/player/premier-league/newcastle-united/allan-irne-
saint-maximin/) fed a pass to Sean Longstaff (https://theathletic.com/player/premier-league/newcastle-
united/sean-longstaff/), who curled in an excellent finish from the edge of the area at Vicarage Road.
On the training ground, coaches Stephen Clemence and Ben Dawson oversee much of the training for set-
piece situations, and the corner statistics perhaps highlight why Matt Ritchie
(https://theathletic.com/player/premier-league/newcastle-united/matt-ritchie/) continues to play.

Despite being a right winger, converted into a left wing-back, who is now playing as an out-and-out left-
back, and who struggles defensively, Ritchie has taken all bar three of Newcastle’s corners this season. He is
deemed as providing the most consistent delivery, even though just 32 per cent of his 38 corners (12) have
been deemed “successful” by Opta. Sean Longstaff, Ryan Fraser (https://theathletic.com/player/premier-
league/newcastle-united/ryan-fraser/) and Jonjo Shelvey (https://theathletic.com/player/premier-
league/newcastle-united/jonjo-shelvey/) have also taken one apiece, though the latter, who has been injured
for much of the season, would probably have been on corner duties more often had he been fit.

The predominance of inswinging corners appears, primarily, to be because the left-footed Ritchie has taken
the majority of the set pieces, and Newcastle have won more on the right-hand side of the pitch than on the
left. Under Bruce, this season, Newcastle have not really mixed and matched corner takers to try and switch
things up with the point of delivery, it seems.

Norwich City (https://theathletic.com/team/norwich-city/)

Norwich’s goalless draw against Brighton was the first time they had taken a left-footed corner this season.
An inswinger no less!

Dimitris Giannoulis’ set piece was the first public indication that Daniel Farke would prefer inswinging
corners this season. Until then, the swing was simply dictated by which side the corner was taken.

The actual plan doesn’t tend to alter on the swing either. Ultimately the taker, now usually Mathias Normann,
aims for the front top corner of the six-yard box where the forward runs of Kenny McLean and Josh Sargent
will either head towards goal or flick the ball on.

Ben Gibson makes a variety of runs behind, Ozan Kabak stays central and Grant Hanley remains at the far
post, to either meet the flick-on or as the initial target for a rare, deeper delivery.

Teemu Pukki tends to make it six Norwich players in the box, now choosing to either wait near the
goalkeeper or drift to the far post behind Hanley.
Norwich’s corner routines are put together by the entire coaching staff. They would have already produced a
goal but for Todd Cantwell’s offside heel against Leicester.

Southampton (https://theathletic.com/team/southampton/)

James Ward-Prowse. There isn’t much more to add regarding Southampton’s corners other than they have,
arguably, the best set-piece taker in the Premier League whipping them into the box.

The only downfall, and it is a rather big one, is that they don’t score from many of them. That, however, isn’t
down to Ward-Prowse. It’s because they don’t have many players who pose a significant aerial threat,
especially after selling Vestergaard to Leicester in the summer.

In Dave Watson, Southampton have a set-piece coach who will chat through new ideas with the midfielder
on a weekly basis. However, the majority of the 26-year-old’s corners are often the same: inswinging, and
right on top of the goalkeeper.

Tottenham (https://theathletic.com/team/tottenham-hotspur/)

Ever since the arrival of Christian Eriksen in 2013, corners have been something of a preoccupation for
Tottenham fans. Eriksen’s habit of failing to beat the first man at corners became such a gripe that you still
hear supporters grumbling about it now — almost two years after Eriksen left the club.

Eriksen has since been replaced by Son Heung-min as Spurs’ main corner taker, and in general there has been
a big improvement. Son’s delivery is very accurate, with the diminutive but dangerous in the air Lucas Moura
often the target at the near post. Moura hit the bar with a header from that position against Newcastle, and
scored from there against West Ham in February. On that occasion it was an inswinger from the right from
Gareth Bale’s left foot.

Bale’s departure means Spurs are more dependent on Son, but so far this season he is carrying that load
manfully. Son is sixth in the division for chances created from corners.

Watford
When it comes to what Watford do with set plays, in general they’re a bit of an anomaly. They possess the
lowest set-play xG (1.5) and have had the fewest shots resulting from corners, free kicks or throw-ins (15).
But they have scored three goals — including two from corners — this season which puts them a respectable
joint sixth in the table.

Their 5-2 win against Everton included one of their two corner goals which have come from 35 corners this
season, giving them a success rate of six per cent, which is above average for the league. The fact that Kucka
was unmarked from Cucho Hernandez’s delivery helped.

Eight players have delivered corners this season with Tom Cleverley taking the most (7) and setting the tone
for the clear trend. Six of those corners have been outswinging — the team’s go-to delivery — often targeting
the near post.

Although it wasn’t a corner, Joshua King’s first goal against Everton resulted from an inswinging free kick
taken by Adam Masina from the right in a very similar position, so it may be used as a weapon in the future
as Claudio Ranieri’s coaching staff try to make Watford more potent.

West Ham

Since returning to the helm in December 2019, David Moyes’ side have scored more goals from set-piece
situations in the Premier League (30) than any other.

Last season West Ham scored 12 goals from set plays in the league, the joint-highest with Everton. Aaron
Cresswell and Jarrod Bowen are the set-piece takers and quite often they will whip in a cross towards the near
post.

Declan Rice tends to run towards the near post, which was the case in the 1-0 win at Everton. While the
victory at Goodison Park was West Ham’s first goal from a set play this season with Angelo Ogbonna scoring,
Moyes’ side always pose a threat when they attack corners. It is worth highlighting it is mainly West Ham’s
centre-backs who score from set pieces although it was Michail Antonio who netted the winner against
Tottenham.
 Ogbonna rises high to score against Everton after Rice made a darting run to the front post (Photo: Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty
Images)

Wolves (https://theathletic.com/team/wolverhampton-wanderers/)

Wolves have the second-highest percentage in the league for taking outswinging corners. Why’s that? Well,
they tend to win a lot of corners on the right flank, particularly when Adama Traore (/player/premier-
league/wolverhampton-wanderers/adama-traor-diarra/) is on that side of the pitch, but also attacking right
wing-back Nelson Semedo (/player/premier-league/wolverhampton-wanderers/nlson-cabral-semedo/).

On the left flank, wing-back Fernando Marcal (/player/premier-league/wolverhampton-wanderers/fernando-

maral-de-oliveira/) isn’t known for his attacking prowess, so most of Wolves’ attacks tend to come down the
right (41 per cent in their match against Aston Villa, for example). And as the majority of their corners are
taken by right-footers (35 of 41 this season), a lot tend to be outswingers. Joao Moutinho (/player/premier-
league/wolverhampton-wanderers/joo-filipe-iria-santos-moutinho/), with 23, takes the majority, while
against Villa, two corners from Daniel Podence (/player/premier-league/wolverhampton-wanderers/daniel-
castelo-podence/) in the late stages eventually led to two goals.

Goalkeeping coach Tony Roberts has been doubling up as a set-piece coach and Wolves are noticeably
different to last season, certainly in terms of personnel with Conor Coady (/player/premier-
league/wolverhampton-wanderers/conor-david-coady/) now up for all corners. They’re second in the league
(behind Manchester City) for short corners, to the fury of many of their supporters who saw a host of short
corners go to waste last season. They’ve created eight chances from set plays in nine league matches, down on
last season’s average of 1.4 chances from set plays per game.

(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Sam Richardson)