Premier League Stats Review: Working Through Chelsea's Set Pieces

Premier League Stats Review: Working Through Chelsea's Set Pieces

This article is part of our Premier League Stats Review series.

A number of injuries or lineup changes have muddied the set-piece waters for some teams, including Aston Villa, who had to replace Ross Barkley, the league leader in corners taken over the last four gameweeks despite not playing Monday against West Ham and lasting only five minutes the week before. Jack Grealish unsurprisingly saw his dead-ball opportunities increase, while Conor Hourihane also picked up the slack while taking Barkley's spot in the starting lineup. Bertrand Traore once again had an opportunity off the bench, but if he's not in the first XI then it's really tough to rely on him in most fantasy formats.

Fulham rotated their lineup slightly for Monday's match against Leicester, which meant Tom Cairney's set pieces were up for grabs. Despite Ademola Lookman and Ivan Cavaleiro both starting, Harrison Reed took all four of their corners. Reed's spot in the starting XI seems somewhat secure, but he isn't likely to get many set pieces if Cairney is there too.

One situation worth examining is Chelsea's, who have eight players with at least one set piece taken this season. That number includes a few who have only taken one, so we're really just looking at Mason Mount, Hakim Ziyech, Ben Chilwell and Reece James. There is generally some kind of split between the group, though after taking the most through the first three games, James is not really an option anymore, a situation that also applies to Chilwell, who was the dominant taker for five games until Ziyech and Mount seemingly took over. Chilwell has now gone six games without a set piece, and while's a fine open-play crosser, James remains a much more active passer from the wing.

    

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Player

Tot

Min

Max

@BHA

LIV

@WBA

CRY

SOU

@MUN

@BRN

SHU

@NEW

TOT

Reece James

62

0

19

9

2

19

0

0

6

7

5

4

10

Ben Chilwell

32

0

11

-

-

-

11

5

6

3

0

3

4

Hakim Ziyech

25

2

6

-

-

-

-

4

2

3

6

4

6

Mason Mount

23

0

8

1

1

8

0

0

1

2

4

3

3

As you'll see in the table below, Mount has taken 15 of Chelsea's 23 free kicks over the last four gameweeks, a span that saw Chilwell take none, making them two of the bigger movers when comparing season-long set-piece shares versus the last four weeks. 

The absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold also changed things up for Liverpool, who turned to James Milner to help fill the void at right-back and on set pieces. However, with Milner now out because of a hamstring injury and Alexander-Arnold potentially back this weekend from his calf issue, their respective numbers should normalize to what we saw earlier this season.

Here's the full updated breakdown of set-piece shares over the season and the last four gameweeks (all columns are sortable):

  

Season

Gameweeks 7-10

Player Name

Team

Player FKs

Team FKs

Player

%

Player FKs

Team FKs

Player

%

Diff

Abs Diff

Youri Tielemans

LEI

36

70

51.43%

1

25

4.00%

-47.43%

47.43%

James Maddison

LEI

28

70

40.00%

19

25

76.00%

36.00%

36.00%

Mason Mount

CHE

19

62

30.65%

15

23

65.22%

34.57%

34.57%

Kalvin Phillips

LEE

33

74

44.59%

3

29

10.34%

-34.25%

34.25%

Sean Longstaff

NEW

12

57

21.05%

12

22

54.55%

33.49%

33.49%

Pascal Gross

BHA

24

67

35.82%

15

22

68.18%

32.36%

32.36%

James Milner

LIV

12

82

14.63%

10

22

45.45%

30.82%

30.82%

Ben Chilwell

CHE

17

62

27.42%

0

23

0.00%

-27.42%

27.42%

Jonjo Shelvey

NEW

24

57

42.11%

4

22

18.18%

-23.92%

23.92%

Trent Alexander-Arnold

LIV

30

82

36.59%

3

22

13.64%

-22.95%

22.95%

Ademola Lookman

FUL

10

58

17.24%

9

23

39.13%

21.89%

21.89%

Mateusz Klich

LEE

21

74

28.38%

14

29

48.28%

19.90%

19.90%

Leandro Trossard

BHA

13

67

19.40%

0

22

0.00%

-19.40%

19.40%

Matheus Pereira

WBA

47

66

71.21%

18

33

54.55%

-16.67%

16.67%

Ivan Cavaleiro

FUL

9

58

15.52%

0

23

0.00%

-15.52%

15.52%

Joe Bryan

FUL

9

58

15.52%

0

23

0.00%

-15.52%

15.52%

Ryan Fraser

NEW

8

57

14.04%

0

22

0.00%

-14.04%

14.04%

Gylfi Sigurdsson

EVE

17

69

24.64%

10

26

38.46%

13.82%

13.82%

Filip Krovinovic

WBA

9

66

13.64%

9

33

27.27%

13.64%

13.64%

Reece James

CHE

11

62

17.74%

1

23

4.35%

-13.39%

13.39%

Harrison Reed

FUL

5

58

8.62%

5

23

21.74%

13.12%

13.12%

Lucas Digne

EVE

17

69

24.64%

3

26

11.54%

-13.10%

13.10%

Alex Telles

MUN

9

71

12.68%

9

35

25.71%

13.04%

13.04%

Jack Harrison

LEE

11

74

14.86%

8

29

27.59%

12.72%

12.72%

Hakim Ziyech

CHE

11

62

17.74%

7

23

30.43%

12.69%

12.69%

Reiss Nelson

ARS

6

62

9.68%

6

27

22.22%

12.54%

12.54%

John Lundstram

SHU

18

65

27.69%

4

25

16.00%

-11.69%

11.69%

Ross Barkley

AVL

29

96

30.21%

22

53

41.51%

11.30%

11.30%

Ryan Bertrand

SOU

9

62

14.52%

1

28

3.57%

-10.94%

10.94%

Andrew Robertson

LIV

38

82

46.34%

8

22

36.36%

-9.98%

9.98%

John McGinn

AVL

9

96

9.38%

0

53

0.00%

-9.38%

9.38%

Gareth Bale

TOT

6

61

9.84%

4

21

19.05%

9.21%

9.21%

James Ward-Prowse

SOU

52

62

83.87%

26

28

92.86%

8.99%

8.99%

Juan Mata

MUN

8

71

11.27%

1

35

2.86%

-8.41%

8.41%

Joao Moutinho

WOL

23

63

36.51%

13

29

44.83%

8.32%

8.32%

Ilkay Gundogan

MCI

6

74

8.11%

0

30

0.00%

-8.11%

8.11%

Pedro Neto

WOL

29

63

46.03%

11

29

37.93%

-8.10%

8.10%

Kevin De Bruyne

MCI

41

74

55.41%

19

30

63.33%

7.93%

7.93%

Nicolas Pepe

ARS

14

62

22.58%

4

27

14.81%

-7.77%

7.77%

Marc Albrighton

LEI

3

70

4.29%

3

25

12.00%

7.71%

7.71%

Patrick van Aanholt

CRY

4

73

5.48%

4

31

12.90%

7.42%

7.42%

James McCarthy

CRY

5

73

6.85%

0

31

0.00%

-6.85%

6.85%

Miguel Almiron

NEW

4

57

7.02%

3

22

13.64%

6.62%

6.62%

Harry Kane

TOT

2

61

3.28%

2

21

9.52%

6.25%

6.25%

Willian

ARS

26

62

41.94%

13

27

48.15%

6.21%

6.21%

Oliver Norwood

SHU

22

65

33.85%

10

25

40.00%

6.15%

6.15%

Dani Ceballos

ARS

6

62

9.68%

1

27

3.70%

-5.97%

5.97%

Bertrand Traore

AVL

9

96

9.38%

8

53

15.09%

5.72%

5.72%

Solomon March

BHA

22

67

32.84%

6

22

27.27%

-5.56%

5.56%

Conor Hourihane

AVL

27

96

28.13%

12

53

22.64%

-5.48%

5.48%

Erik Lamela

TOT

9

61

14.75%

2

21

9.52%

-5.23%

5.23%

Neeskens Kebano

FUL

3

58

5.17%

0

23

0.00%

-5.17%

5.17%

Josh Brownhill

BRN

3

60

5.00%

0

23

0.00%

-5.00%

5.00%

Pablo Hernandez

LEE

4

74

5.41%

3

29

10.34%

4.94%

4.94%

Sander Berge

SHU

2

65

3.08%

2

25

8.00%

4.92%

4.92%

Sergio Reguilon

TOT

3

61

4.92%

0

21

0.00%

-4.92%

4.92%

Andriy Yarmolenko

WHU

3

63

4.76%

0

26

0.00%

-4.76%

4.76%

Son Heung-Min

TOT

29

61

47.54%

9

21

42.86%

-4.68%

4.68%

Vladimir Coufal

WHU

2

63

3.17%

2

26

7.69%

4.52%

4.52%

Adam Lallana

BHA

3

67

4.48%

0

22

0.00%

-4.48%

4.48%

Bukayo Saka

ARS

5

62

8.06%

1

27

3.70%

-4.36%

4.36%

Matt Ritchie

NEW

5

57

8.77%

1

22

4.55%

-4.23%

4.23%

Matt Targett

AVL

4

96

4.17%

0

53

0.00%

-4.17%

4.17%

John Fleck

SHU

13

65

20.00%

6

25

24.00%

4.00%

4.00%

Jacob Murphy

NEW

3

57

5.26%

2

22

9.09%

3.83%

3.83%

Cengiz Under

LEI

3

70

4.29%

2

25

8.00%

3.71%

3.71%

Andros Townsend

CRY

38

73

52.05%

15

31

48.39%

-3.67%

3.67%

Riyad Mahrez

MCI

22

74

29.73%

10

30

33.33%

3.60%

3.60%

Aleksandar Mitrovic

FUL

3

58

5.17%

2

23

8.70%

3.52%

3.52%

Dwight McNeil

BRN

24

60

40.00%

10

23

43.48%

3.48%

3.48%

Ben Osborn

SHU

10

65

15.38%

3

25

12.00%

-3.38%

3.38%

Xherdan Shaqiri

LIV

1

82

1.22%

1

22

4.55%

3.33%

3.33%

Steven Bergwijn

TOT

2

61

3.28%

0

21

0.00%

-3.28%

3.28%

Eric Dier

TOT

1

61

1.64%

1

21

4.76%

3.12%

3.12%

Yves Bissouma

BHA

1

67

1.49%

1

22

4.55%

3.05%

3.05%

Conor Gallagher

WBA

2

66

3.03%

2

33

6.06%

3.03%

3.03%

Alexis Mac Allister

BHA

2

67

2.99%

0

22

0.00%

-2.99%

2.99%

Eberechi Eze

CRY

12

73

16.44%

6

31

19.35%

2.92%

2.92%

Mason Greenwood

MUN

2

71

2.82%

0

35

0.00%

-2.82%

2.82%

Patrick Bamford

LEE

2

74

2.70%

0

29

0.00%

-2.70%

2.70%

Phil Foden

MCI

2

74

2.70%

0

30

0.00%

-2.70%

2.70%

Josh Benson

BRN

1

60

1.67%

1

23

4.35%

2.68%

2.68%

Luke Shaw

MUN

10

71

14.08%

4

35

11.43%

-2.66%

2.66%

Tom Cairney

FUL

19

58

32.76%

7

23

30.43%

-2.32%

2.32%

Rodri

MCI

1

74

1.35%

1

30

3.33%

1.98%

1.98%

Theo Walcott

SOU

1

62

1.61%

1

28

3.57%

1.96%

1.96%

Nelson Semedo

WOL

1

63

1.59%

1

29

3.45%

1.86%

1.86%

Jeff Hendrick

NEW

1

57

1.75%

0

22

0.00%

-1.75%

1.75%

Johann Berg Gudmundsson

BRN

1

60

1.67%

0

23

0.00%

-1.67%

1.67%

Ben Davies

TOT

1

61

1.64%

0

21

0.00%

-1.64%

1.64%

Timo Werner

CHE

1

62

1.61%

0

23

0.00%

-1.61%

1.61%

Kai Havertz

CHE

1

62

1.61%

0

23

0.00%

-1.61%

1.61%

Callum Hudson-Odoi

CHE

1

62

1.61%

0

23

0.00%

-1.61%

1.61%

Declan Rice

WHU

1

63

1.59%

0

26

0.00%

-1.59%

1.59%

Vitinha

WOL

1

63

1.59%

0

29

0.00%

-1.59%

1.59%

Grady Diangana

WBA

3

66

4.55%

1

33

3.03%

-1.52%

1.52%

Matthew Phillips

WBA

5

66

7.58%

3

33

9.09%

1.52%

1.52%

Lewis Dunk

BHA

1

67

1.49%

0

22

0.00%

-1.49%

1.49%

Joel Veltman

BHA

1

67

1.49%

0

22

0.00%

-1.49%

1.49%

Marcus Rashford

MUN

1

71

1.41%

1

35

2.86%

1.45%

1.45%

Raheem Sterling

MCI

1

74

1.35%

0

30

0.00%

-1.35%

1.35%

Bernardo Silva

MCI

1

74

1.35%

0

30

0.00%

-1.35%

1.35%

Rodrigo

LEE

1

74

1.35%

0

29

0.00%

-1.35%

1.35%

Ruben Neves

WOL

3

63

4.76%

1

29

3.45%

-1.31%

1.31%

Jarrod Bowen

WHU

21

63

33.33%

9

26

34.62%

1.28%

1.28%

Roberto Firmino

LIV

1

82

1.22%

0

22

0.00%

-1.22%

1.22%

Giovani Lo Celso

TOT

8

61

13.11%

3

21

14.29%

1.17%

1.17%

Jack Grealish

AVL

17

96

17.71%

10

53

18.87%

1.16%

1.16%

Granit Xhaka

ARS

3

62

4.84%

1

27

3.70%

-1.14%

1.14%

Trezeguet

AVL

1

96

1.04%

1

53

1.89%

0.85%

0.85%

Daniel Podence

WOL

6

63

9.52%

3

29

10.34%

0.82%

0.82%

Raphinha

LEE

2

74

2.70%

1

29

3.45%

0.75%

0.75%

James Rodriguez

EVE

35

69

50.72%

13

26

50.00%

-0.72%

0.72%

Mark Noble

WHU

2

63

3.17%

1

26

3.85%

0.67%

0.67%

Bruno Fernandes

MUN

41

71

57.75%

20

35

57.14%

-0.60%

0.60%

Ashley Westwood

BRN

31

60

51.67%

12

23

52.17%

0.51%

0.51%

David Luiz

ARS

2

62

3.23%

1

27

3.70%

0.48%

0.48%

Luka Milivojevic

CRY

14

73

19.18%

6

31

19.35%

0.18%

0.18%

Aaron Cresswell

WHU

34

63

53.97%

14

26

53.85%

-0.12%

0.12%

Marcos Alonso

CHE

1

62

1.61%

-

-

-

-

-

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire. Andrew M. Laird plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: FanDuel: kingmorland, DraftKings: andrewmlaird, Yahoo: Lairdinho.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andrew M. Laird
Andrew M. Laird, the 2017 and 2018 FSWA Soccer Writer of the Year, is RotoWire's Head of DFS Content and Senior Soccer Editor. He is a nine-time FSWA award finalist, including twice for Football Writer of the Year.
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