Set pieces are an incredibly important part of football, with between 25% and 33% of goals scored coming from a set piece. They are equally important in Fantrax EPL, and in these articles we will highlight the trends in set pieces that will lead to player value fluctuation.
Be sure to check out our other Inner Circle features, including the Fixture Difficulty Tracker and Weekly Projections.
Check out @DraftLad's article on why set pieces matter so much and our Set Piece Tracker for more set piece data.
Gameweek 8 Set Piece Takers
Arsenal
In the return of Pepe to the starting XI, he took 4 corners and 1 free kick for Arsenal. Unlike in prior Pepe starts, Odegaard was still somewhat involved and took 2 corners. As expected, when Pepe starts, Odegaard takes fewer set pieces.
Aston Villa
With Buendia on the pitch, neither he nor previous dominant taker Douglas Luiz took most of Villa's set pieces. For whatever reason McGinn took the most corners (5) and 1 free kick. Luiz took 1 corner and 2 free kicks and Buendia took 0 of either. A very disappointing development for Buendia managers banking on him coming back into the lineup and commanding set pieces, but as we've learned the situation can change rapidly at Villa so there's still some hope.
Brentford
With Janelt out injured again, Mbeumo and Mathias Jensen split corners and Jensen took the 2 free kicks. None for Canos this week. If Jensen and Janelt ever play at the same time it'll be interesting to see who takes more set pieces.
Brighton
Gross had a set piece monopoly on Brighton's set pieces this week, taking 4 corners and 2 (accurate) free kicks. None for Cucurella or March after taking a few in previous weeks.
Burnley
Like usual Westwood and McNeil were both involved in set pieces. However, interestingly, Cornet took Burnley's 1 left-footed corner instead of McNeil. We saw Cornet previously take a corner in a midweek cup game as well. A positive sign for Cornet managers, and a potential negative one for McNeil managers.
Chelsea
Chilwell again took all of Chelsea's corners (5) in the absence of Reece James and Mount from the starting lineup. Chilwell also took 1 cross from a free kick and Lukaku and Kovacic each took 1 shot from free kicks. It will be interesting to see the split when Mount and James start in the coming weeks.
Crystal Palace
Once again Milivojevic took all Crystal Palace's set pieces (2 corners, 1 free kick) and Gallagher got 0. Olise subbed on but Palace didn't receive any set pieces for him to take.
Everton
Demarai Gray and Townsend split corners for Everton and Townsend took their 1 free kick cross. Gray has fully taken over as Everton's right footed corner taker and Digne seems to be fully off of corners and only on a few free kicks.
Leicester City
Like last week, Tielemans took most of Leicester's corners and free kicks. The exceptions were again a corner taken by James Maddison, as well as a free kick shot. Similarly to last week, good signs for Maddison if he can stay in the starting XI.
Liverpool
As expected, Trent and Robertson split corners. Liverpool had no free kicks in GW8.
Leeds
Leeds only had 1 corner all game and Jack Harrison crossed it in, likely due to the absence of Raphinha (and Kalvin Phillips) in the starting lineup.
Manchester City
Mahrez took 4 corners and KDB and Silva each took 1. Foden took 0 as Grealish did not start. No free kicks for City in this one.
Manchester United
Bruno took 3 right-footed corners for United, and there were no left-footed ones for Shaw to take vs Leicester. No free kicks for any United players either.
Newcastle
Ritchie took both of Newcastle's corners and Jacob Murphy took their 1 free kick after subbing on. Jonjo Shelvey subbed on but got a red card after 23 minutes, so Ritchie managers do not need to worry about him stealing any set pieces for at least one more games still.
Norwich City
Mathias Normann again took corners for Norwich (4), but Giannoulis and Rashica also each took 2. Giannoulis took 3 free kicks as well to Normann's 2 and Lees-Melou also had 1. While Rashica is not on the field, Normann and Giannoulis should be expected to split set pieces going forward, but when Rashica does play, Normann will lose out more often due to them both being right-footed. Normann owners be wary, his floor might be disappearing as quickly as it came.
Southampton
Just as we speculated last week, Redmond took corners (8) for Southampton with JWP out suspended. Romeu took their 1 free kick of the game. Redmond will keep his set piece floor for another 2 games while JWP is out.
Tottenham
Son took all 9 of Spurs corners as Lo Celso did not feature in this one. Kane took their 1 direct free kick shot.
Watford
Cleverley took 1 corner and Rose took 1 free kick cross for Watford's only 2 set pieces vs Liverpool.
West Ham
Bowen, Cresswell, Fornals split corners fairly evenly in this one. Fornals appears to be chipping into the other two's corners after taking them in consecutive weeks.
Wolves
With Trincao out, Moutinho and Neves split corners. Neves took the 1 direct shot from a free kick like normal. However, after coming on with 16 minutes to play, Podence proceeded to take 4 corners. As he's right-footed like Moutinho, Podence looks to be the preferred right-footed corner taker over Moutinho when they play together.
Things to Watch Out For From This Week
Will Pepe continue starting for Arsenal and thus take set pieces away from Odegaard?
Will McGinn stay on corners for Aston Villa? And will Buendia stay off them?
Will Cornet be involved in set pieces going forward?
Is Podence the preferred corner taker over Moutinho?
Things to Watch Out For From Previous Weeks
Who will take corners and free kicks in JWP's absence? Redmond all corners, Romeu some free kicks
Will Olise take set pieces over Milivojevic when he starts? TBD
Can Buendia or Jensen make their way into their team? Yes, but no sets for Buendia yet
Will Shaw keep taking corners from both sides? No, Bruno on 1 side, him on the other
Will Janelt continue to command Brentford set pieces? Likely yes, maybe not when Jensen also starts
Will Douglas Luiz continue to take set pieces with and without Buendia on the pitch? Yes! So far he has, although McGinn has begun taking some away
Will Maddison take any more corners/set pieces while on the pitch? Took another in GW8, tide might be turning
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