The 2024/2025 Premier League season has seen an increasing share of goals arrive from corners and free‑kicks, with set pieces accounting for close to a third of total scoring according to recent analysis. That shift makes it natural for bettors to ask which teams generate a disproportionate amount of their output from dead‑ball situations and how those profiles might translate into value in special markets—corners, “team to score from a set piece,” “header goals,” and related props. Looking closely at set‑piece specialists turns what used to be a marginal angle into a structured part of pre‑match planning.
Why focusing on set-piece-heavy teams is a logical betting angle
Set‑piece situations—corners, wide free‑kicks, indirect routines—produce repeatable patterns that coaches can drill, making them less random than they appear. Clubs that invest in specialist coaches and detailed routines often add 10–20 goals across a league season from dead‑ball scenarios, turning them into a distinct scoring channel rather than a side effect of open play. From a bettor’s point of view, that reliability opens up markets that price set‑piece goals, first‑goal methods, and team‑specific corner performance more efficiently than a generic view of attack strength alone.
Recent seasons have shown that top‑level sides with dedicated set‑piece staff can match the impact of a prolific striker in terms of added goals. When a significant percentage of a club’s xG and goals come from dead balls, their matches behave differently around corners and free‑kicks: small leads may feel safer, while late pressure with many corners carries a higher true threat than averages suggest. This cause‑and‑effect chain makes it rational to isolate those teams in your analysis and treat set‑piece markets as more than just side bets.
Which 2024/2025 teams lean most on set pieces?
Data aggregators and season reviews highlight a cluster of Premier League clubs whose scoring profiles are heavily tilted toward dead‑ball situations. Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, Everton and Nottingham Forest stand out in 2024/2025, with set‑piece goals making up a large share of their overall tallies. Palace lead the league for raw set‑piece goals with 15, just ahead of Villa on 14, while Arsenal and Everton sit tied on 13 apiece in some tallies, underlining how important these phases have become for both European contenders and mid‑table sides.
The distribution of dependence is particularly revealing. Everton generate around 38% of their goals from set pieces, the highest proportion in the league, indicating that dead‑ball situations are not just a bonus but a central part of their attacking identity. Crystal Palace follow closely, with set pieces accounting for more than a third of their output, while Forest rely on them for just under 30% of their xG, showing how crucial they are for a team pushing above expectations. These ratios matter because they highlight clubs whose match dynamics are more sensitive to corner counts and fouls near the box than their open‑play numbers alone would suggest.
Arsenal, Brentford and the evolution of elite set-piece expertise
Beyond raw totals, some clubs have built reputations over several seasons as set‑piece innovators, sustaining high outputs through coaching rather than one‑off purple patches. Arsenal’s partnership with specialist coach Nicolas Jover has previously delivered league‑record numbers, and their 2024/2025 campaign again shows them among the top sides for goals from corners and free‑kicks, with mid‑teens totals reported across various datasets. Brentford, meanwhile, have become synonymous with structured routines, boasting a +9 set‑piece goal difference across 11 scored and two conceded in 2024/2025, the best net return in the division.
Those records emerge from deliberate strategic choices. Brentford’s ownership and coaching staff openly treat set pieces as a low‑cost way to add goals, hiring dedicated experts and even tying bonuses to dead‑ball success. Arsenal’s focus on inswinging corners, blockers, and specific delivery patterns reflects similar thinking: repeatable, coachable moments where careful planning can outstrip marginal gains elsewhere. For bettors, these clubs’ long‑term trends reduce the risk that one good season is simply variance, making set‑piece‑related markets more grounded in structural advantage.
Comparing high-volume versus high-reliance set-piece teams
It is useful to distinguish between teams that score many set‑piece goals because they score many goals overall and those that rely disproportionately on dead balls. High‑scoring giants, such as Liverpool or Manchester City, often register strong absolute totals but a smaller percentage of goals from set pieces, as open‑play production dominates. In contrast, sides like Everton or Forest may post modest overall tallies but see a large segment of them come from free‑kicks and corners, meaning that game states and specific matchup dynamics around those situations have outsized importance.
In practical terms, high‑volume but low‑reliance teams might offer better opportunities in “anytime set‑piece goal” props in big games, where sustained pressure yields many chances, whereas high‑reliance teams may be more interesting in season‑long or player‑specific markets tied to assists and headed goals. Recognising which category a club falls into helps prevent overestimating set‑piece impact just because a team sits high in the general scoring table.
Corners, delivery, and how they feed special markets
Set‑piece productivity depends not only on tactics but on how often a team reaches the right zones and who delivers the ball. Corner‑stats tables show that dominant attacking sides typically rack up high for‑corner counts—Arsenal, Aston Villa and other front‑foot clubs average around nine total corners per match when both teams’ figures are combined. At player level, repeated data sets highlight names like Declan Rice, Andreas Pereira and Kevin De Bruyne as among the most frequent corner takers, underscoring how delivery roles concentrate set‑piece involvement in a small group of players.
This structure creates distinct betting possibilities. For teams with frequent corners but low efficiency, there may be under‑performance in set‑piece goals compared with xG from those situations, implying potential positive regression later in the season. Conversely, sides scoring from a high percentage of relatively few corners might face sustainability questions if their xG per corner is moderate, hinting at over‑performance. Tracking corner volumes and delivery patterns alongside goal outputs thus helps bettors decide whether to trust set‑piece markets in upcoming fixtures or treat recent returns as fragile.
Translating set-piece profiles into special-market choices on UFABET
For bettors who already centralise their Premier League activity in a single online betting site, set‑piece awareness becomes useful only when it shapes concrete market choices. Across the 2024/2025 calendar, fixtures featuring Arsenal, Brentford, Crystal Palace, Everton or Nottingham Forest can be filtered by how much each club leans on dead‑ball situations and how the opponent defends them. If you execute those strategies through ufabet168, the practical step is to treat its menu of special markets—“team to score from a header,” “goal from a free‑kick or corner,” “team corners,” and occasionally “set‑piece goals over/under”—as extensions of your read on each side’s set‑play structure, rather than as isolated novelty bets.
When opponents’ weaknesses turn set-piece strength into real value
Set‑piece strength becomes most potent for bettors when it collides with specific opponent vulnerabilities. Analytical work on the 2024/2025 season shows that certain teams concede a higher proportion of shots and xG from corners than others, either due to zonal‑marking issues, goalkeeper hesitancy, or a lack of aerial presence. Brighton, for example, concede relatively few corners overall and allow among the lowest xG from those situations, while some newly promoted or defensively fragile sides leak a high percentage of chances from set plays.
When a set‑piece‑reliant side meets an opponent with documented weakness in this area, the cause‑effect link strengthens: more corners, higher xG per corner, and a greater probability that one of those events decides the match. That is precisely the scenario in which targeted specials—“team to score from a set piece,” “defender to score,” or elevated team‑corner lines—are most justified, because both the attacking and defensive profiles point in the same direction. Conversely, when a strong dead‑ball team faces an opponent that rarely concedes corners or defends them well, it may be wiser to focus on other markets.
Conditional scenarios: game state and set-piece value
Game state also conditions how much set‑piece expertise matters. In tight, low‑tempo matches where open‑play chances are scarce—common in late‑season relegation battles or cautious top‑six contests—a single set‑piece routine can swing both result and special‑market outcomes. In more open games where teams trade attacks, set‑pieces still contribute but share the stage with multiple other scoring channels, diluting their relative importance to any one bet.
For bettors, this suggests two different uses. In expected cagey fixtures, backing set‑piece‑oriented props aligns with the idea that dead balls may be the clearest path to goals. In open contests, set‑pieces might be better treated as part of a broader “goals and shots” view—informing over‑lines or player‑goal props rather than singled out in isolation. Aligning your specials with the anticipated game state helps avoid over‑committing to an angle that the match rhythm never truly supports.
Where set-piece-based betting can mislead
Despite the clear patterns, heavy focus on set‑piece teams can still misfire when key details change. Coaching staff turnover, injuries to primary takers or aerial targets, and tactical adjustments can all reduce effectiveness within a season, even for clubs previously known as specialists. If you rely solely on last year’s numbers or early‑season metrics without updating for personnel and roles, you risk backing an outdated edge.
Variance is another constraint. Even the most efficient set‑piece sides score a limited number of dead‑ball goals across 38 games, so short samples—five or six matches—can show droughts or streaks that do not reflect underlying xG from these situations. Over‑reacting to a few weeks of outcomes by dramatically changing stake sizes in specials can therefore be dangerous. The more robust approach is to track underlying chances and xG from corners and free‑kicks as well as actual goals, then scale exposure gradually when both metrics move in the same direction.
Summary
Premier League 2024/2025 has reinforced the growing importance of set pieces, with clubs like Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, Everton, Nottingham Forest, Arsenal and Brentford turning dead‑ball situations into a meaningful share of their scoring output. For bettors, the practical edge lies in recognising which teams generate and convert set‑piece chances consistently, matching those strengths with opponent weaknesses, and then choosing special markets—corners, set‑piece goals, headed scorers—that directly reflect those patterns rather than betting them as isolated novelties. When tracked and updated across the season, set‑piece profiles become one more structured lens through which to view Premier League matches, turning a subtle tactical detail into a deliberate part of your market selection.
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