It’s a new season, and that means for me, a fresh slate to deal with from a set-piece perspective which needs to be covered if I want to save face as a “set piece sicko”.
Since I’m generous with my time, I’ve decided to convert this simple preview into an FPL recommendations set – all based on who’s worth your time when the ball’s dead.
Must Buys
Gabriel Magalhaes (6.0m) once again leads the way, but for me, the main Arsenal pick should be Bukayo Saka (10.0m). His set-piece delivery record is superb, and also occasionally takes penalties, even if the Gunners did only pick up 2 total last term. Arsenal are predominantly focusing on the far-post in preseason, which has been a speciality of Saka’s over the years, and other players have made use of the space created by Gabriel’s gravity, making him less guaranteed goals.
James Tarkowski (5.5m) is an obvious pick, especially with the new defensive bonuses for clearances and blocks: Nikola Milenković (5.5m) another pick for his dominance in aerial battles. Everton conceded 229 corners last season (only 13 fewer than Southampton) and 140 set-piece shots, giving Tarkowski ample opportunity to keep those numbers high, but with the addition of a lot of attacking talent, I would be shocked if Everton shipped quite as many. He also made contact with a league-leading 15.8% of attacking corners as of December last season – fair warning however that this success nose-dived without Sean Dyche at the helm, despite the best efforts of first-ever and now departed set-piece coach Charlie Adam.
Dan Burn (5.0m) is another easy shout, but with even more reason than ever. His 5.32 clearances p/90 is a good start, his 3.95 aerial wins p/90 is even better, and Newcastle’s acquisition of set-piece mega-nerd Martin Mark from FC Midtyjlland is the final piece. For context, he’s the set-piece coach of a team that scored 42% of its goals from those situations in last seasons title winning campaign: a team with a mural to set-piece goal difference at its training ground. Mark’s tactics rely on heavy blind-side blocking and sharp direction changes, which may fail to manifest with the less-than-balletic Burn, but I doubt Mark will be able waste a 6ft7 powerhouse.
Potential Differentials and Hot Takes
without as much assurance. A side emblematic of the phrase “without assurance” is Manchester United who bring with them a load of questions, but a surprisingly deep set-piece outfit. They, admittedly, have lost Andreas Georgson as their dead-ball coach, but have gained Bryan Mbeumo (8.0m) and Matheus Cunha (8.0m) as deliverers, and Benjamin Šeško (7.5m) as a deliveree: added to the collection of Leny Yoro (4.5m), Matthijs De Ligt (5.0m), and Harry Maguire (4.5m). Yoro represents best value for money at just 4.5m after his efforts in pre-season.
On the opposite side of the Georgson coin, Spurs finally have a set-piece coach: Hooray! Thomas Frank’s brought his old Brentford buddy in, and the focus on bodies in the box and a sturdy front-post zonal structure looks to be working for them. CB choices like Christian Romero (5.0m) and Van de Ven (4.5m) naturally suit this, with Georgson also favouring a ‘big guy turns up deep with a big head’ approach to offensive routines. Noted flick-on artist Dominic Solanke (8.0m) could be also worth a shot. This approach should mean a drop in set-piece involvement for Pedro Porro, so I’d advise avoiding him if those set-piece creation and shot numbers interested you.
Brighton and Brentford also provide alternatives. Brighton’s hiring of Anderlecht and Belgium National Team set-piece coach Yannick Euvrard should give their mostly-lifeless attacking routines some vim, making an aerial force like Jan Paul van Hecke (4.5m) interesting. Anderlecht typically focused back-post, with an emphasis on stretching the box out – so powerful runners from the edge are good shouts. Brentford are now, like in my dreams, run by their former set-piece coach, and so have a great basis to work from: they conceded just 0.07xG per set-piece shot last season, and only 2 goals – hinting at an elite structure, despite the volume of chances ceded. New captain Nathan Collins (5.0m) is ideal for defensive bonus points and potential offensive upside, but a word for Kevin Schade (7.0m) who boasts decent aerial prowess and now a core role in the Brentford frontline. Mikkel Damsgaard (6.0m) will also likely take over as taker.
Weirdly, whilst Crystal Palace were the league leaders on the set-piece front last year, the spread of scorers and variety of plays (all good things!) mean I can’t recommend any of them as individual picks. This is a problem Aston Villa suffer under the brilliant work of Austin MacPhee. Chelsea may improve under Bernardo Cueva’s tutelage but the constantly rotating line-ups makes planning for routines an unenviable job. Bournemouth have lost all vertical threat in one swoop, Fulham and Wolves are utterly limp from the dead-ball line, and everyone else is either unpredictable (promoted sides, West Ham) or at a huge premium without guarantees (Liverpool and Man City).
I’m very excited to be proved wrong almost immediately.