Premier League chiefs hold talks on rise of set pieces amid concern over quality

Premier League sporting directors have opened formal discussions about the surge in set-piece goals and the persistent holding in the penalty area, amid growing unease that the trends are eroding the league’s entertainment value.

Dead-ball situations have supplied 27.1 per cent of all Premier League goals this season, excluding penalties, while corners alone have contributed 18 per cent of the competition’s total, the highest proportion since Opta records began. The league now leads Europe’s top five divisions in set-piece conversion rate, with Serie A next at 24 per cent, followed by the Bundesliga (22), La Liga (19) and Ligue 1 (17).

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot voiced the unease felt in many technical areas, saying this week that “my football heart doesn’t like it” when asked about the increasing reliance on rehearsed routines. The unease is amplified by the fact that Arsenal, who top the table chasing a first title in 22 years, have scored 22 of their 59 league goals from set plays, 16 of them from corners.

Brighton head coach Fabian Hürzeler added to the chorus after his side’s 1-0 loss to Arsenal on Wednesday, criticising the north London club’s average restart time of 44.4 seconds before corners and calling for time limits to be imposed.

The league’s sporting directors, who meet regularly and hold scheduled summits, have placed the topic on their recent agenda. Managers and captains also feed views into the Premier League’s Football Principles, a document that shapes how matches are officiated, while the annual Football Survey canvasses supporters and can trigger law tweaks.

Referees have already been instructed to penalise holding at set pieces after the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMO) introduced a clampdown last summer. Nine penalties have been awarded for holding at set plays this season, compared with four at the equivalent point of 2022-23; the overall figure for holding offences, including non-set-piece incidents, has risen to 12 from nine.

Officials remain constrained, however, by the laws of the game, which prevent them from awarding free-kicks when the ball is out of play, allowing jostling and blocking before corners to go largely unchecked.

From next season referees will implement a five-second countdown for throw-ins and goal-kicks when time-wasting is suspected, following last weekend’s law change by the International Football Association Board. The move is expected to speed up restarts but will not directly regulate the lengthy routines that have become a hallmark of the league’s most efficient set-piece exponents.