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A key narrative of the Premier League this campaign concerns the reduction of scoring in open-play scenarios and how sides are netting increasingly from dead-ball situations instead.

Looking at goal sources to matchday 11 the prior season, there have been 39 fewer goals in open play and 26 more from team set-pieces and penalties, resulting in 13 less in total.

If we look at the bigger picture, efforts on goal clubs are making have seen a staggering drop of 370 in open play than at this stage previously.

Regardless of the big increase in set-piece goals, records show just two more shots generated from them excluding spot-kicks, showing how effective teams are at devising strategies to score from set-pieces.

Scoring Rates Reveal the Tale

301 total goals recorded in the first 110 fixtures up to now works out at nearly 2.75 goals per game, which if it continued for the entire campaign could be the least for half a decade, from five seasons ago (2.69).

However, only under 200 goals coming in open play equates to 1.78 each match and is heading to be the smallest for 16 seasons, back in 2009-10 (1.76 average).

The 2009-10 season additionally represents the only Premier League campaign to experience goals scored more often from non-penalty set-pieces than this campaign's frequency of 0.77 per game (0.79 average).

What Clubs Are Most Responsible?

When it comes to scoring from open-play, Wolves have seen the largest decline, netting only four in 11 matches, 10 fewer than this point the previous campaign.

Apart from Wolverhampton, England's top division's fall in open play goals is very much a London thing, with five of the London's seven clubs scoring a minimum of five less scores from open-play than the prior season.

In fairness, this is mainly because them scoring many scores at the early stages of last season as opposed to them having difficulty to score in open-play the current term.

At the same time City have seen the largest rise, with all but one of their 23 scores this season arriving in open-play.

Dead-Ball Dominance

We've compared clubs that came up with the relegated sides that they superseded. Play-off champions the Black Cats have recorded an additional three goals in open play than Southampton managed in their opening 11 matches on their way to relegation last season.

When it comes to scoring from dead-ball situations (excluding penalties), Arsenal and Chelsea have experienced the most significant jump, with the two clubs compensating for the reduction of five scores that they've netted in open-play with the same number from dead-ball chances.

United have scored twice as many goals from set-plays as they achieved in matchday 11 last season ahead of the manager took charge, while Sunderland again are more effective at netting than the club they replaced they replaced.

Man City appear not to have received the memo about scoring more from set-plays, since they've scored three less than last season, like the Reds, even if this may result from the altered approach they've attempted to adopt.

General Tendencies

Six clubs – Arsenal, Chelsea, the Cottagers, Newcastle, Tottenham and the Hammers – represent this term's primary examples by scoring fewer goals from open-play and increased from set-plays, while Man City stand as the sole team to buck the trend so far by doing the complete reverse.

It will be fascinating to observe if clubs persist to place such emphasis on set-plays as the season goes on or if they regain their all-round creativity and commence scoring increased totals in open-play also.