For the past two seasons, Arsenal established an unyielding, league-wide reputation as the ultimate set-piece powerhouse.

Under the meticulous touchline instruction of set-piece coach Nicolas Jover, the Gunners set a Premier League record last term by scoring 25 non-penalty set-piece goals (including 19 from corners alone) en route to capturing the title.

It marked five consecutive seasons in which Arsenal breached the 15-goal mark from dead-ball routines. Yet, seven matches into the 2026-27 campaign, the "Set-Piece" engine has surprisingly stalled.

Arsenal find themselves as one of only four Premier League clubs—alongside Liverpool, Manchester United, and Nottingham Forest, yet to score a single non-penalty set-piece goal this season. 

So, has Arsenal’s dead-ball edge truly dissipated, or is a variance correction right around the corner?

The numbers behind Arsenal’s set-piece drought

When asked about the sudden dry spell, Mikel Arteta attributed the drop-off primarily to finishing variance and luck, and the underlying Opta metrics strongly validate his claim.

Arsenal are currently among the Premier League's heaviest underperformers when comparing actual goals to set-piece Expected Goals (xG). 

The data demonstrates that Arsenal's dead-ball deliveries have produced 2.50 set-piece xG so far this season, trailing only Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in terms of underperformance margin.

High-quality chances have consistently fallen to Arsenal’s dominant aerial threats, only to be squandered in key moments.

During their last Premier League game against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, both Kai Havertz and Gabriel Magalhaes sent uncontested headers over the crossbar from precise Declan Rice deliveries during Sunday's victory over Nottingham Forest.

At the Emirates last September, Riccardo Calafiori missed an exceptional close-range header off a Martin Odegaard free-kick against Chelsea.

Against Aston Villa, Zion Suzuki produced a world-class reaction save to stop Rice's header from a Bukayo Saka corner.

In 2025-26, Arsenal outperformed their set-piece xG by nearly four full goals due to elite finishing. This term, the chances are still being generated, but the finishing execution has temporarily deserted them.

Read More: How Myles Lewis-Skelly Could Unlock a More Creative Arsenal Midfield

How officiating changes are affecting Arsenal’s set-piece routines

Beyond finishing variance, tactical adaptation has become mandatory following the Premier League's strict clampdown on blocking, holding, and wrestling inside the penalty area from set pieces.

Intended to reduce grappling and give goalkeepers greater freedom to operate, officials are actively penalising attacking blocks. Consequently, goalkeepers are receiving far higher levels of protection, leading to an increased frequency of defensive free-kicks.

In response, Jover and Arteta have subtly recalibrated their corner locations. They are now making near-post concentration runs.

Arsenal continue to attack the six-yard box, but are swinging a significantly higher percentage of deliveries toward the near-post zone to avoid contact with protected goalkeepers.

Equally, direct deliveries onto the goal line have decreased to mitigate whistle-stopping fouls. While short corners rose to 15% (up from 9% last season), the totality of that volume came during the opening-day tactical wrinkle against Coventry City before reverting to direct deliveries.

"You have to adjust to the rules and what is allowed and what is not. But that opens another window to do things that we want to do. Sometimes you have to give credit to the opponent as well—they defend better, they put more attention on that."

Arsenal are winning fewer corners this season

Perhaps the most understated factor behind the drought is a sheer reduction in total set-piece volume.
Arsenal are simply earning fewer corners than in previous years. Through seven matches, the Gunners are averaging 4.7 corners per game, their lowest baseline in nine seasons. 

This represents a 17% decline from last season’s 5.7 average, and a massive 30% drop from the 2023-24 and 2024-25 campaigns when they averaged nearly seven corners per match.

Concurrently, Arsenal’s overall game-model has evolved. Arteta’s men have shifted greater emphasis toward open-play sequence control, possession retention, and central combinations. 

Can Arsenal rediscover their set-piece threat?

Arsenal's dead-ball superpower is simply undergoing reformation. With underlying set-piece xG remaining encouragingly healthy at 2.50, and Nicolas Jover continually tweaking routines to navigate tighter officiating guidelines, the goals will inevitably return.