Having the former West Ham captain on corner duty has allowed Arsenal to bolster their in-swingers from the left side and mirror what Odegaard and Saka are doing from the right in such situations.
As set pieces are dependent on the delivery, the taker’s success rate relies on the effectiveness of the routines as well. The two aspects are interlinked because without the perfect cross, a well-worked routine can stay in the dark, and vice versa.
Instead of looking at corner success rates as a whole across the Premier League, zooming in on specific target zones provides us with more information, which can be mapped to the teams’ tendencies to understand which players empower their side’s routines.
Advertisement
Since 2023-24, Saka has the highest success rate in the Premier League (68 per cent) from right-sided corners targeting the back-post zone inside the six-yard area — balls which are often aimed towards Gabriel or an isolated Leandro Trossard.
Assuming a minimum of 10 corners played towards the zone in question, Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace; 50 per cent) and Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford and Manchester United; 64 per cent) have respectively the best success rates targeting the central and near-post areas inside the six-yard box. Interestingly, Saka and Odegaard are in the top 10 for those zones as well.
The former Fulham midfielder, Andreas Pereira, has the highest success rate in two other zones: the near post outside the six-yard area (60 per cent) and the space between the penalty spot and the edge of the 18-yard box (78 per cent). This shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering
Saka and Rice’s success rate from corners played into the six-yard area is even more impressive considering their sample size — they are the only two players who have hit more than 100 corners towards the six-yard box in the Premier League since 2023-24.
In that time frame, Saka, Odegaard and Rice have the fourth-, sixth- and seventh-best success rates from corners played into the six-yard area among Premier League players to have delivered at least 30 corners towards that zone.
Event data only gives us a glimpse of Odegaard, Saka and Rice’s corner deliveries, though. That’s why The Athletic reached out to one of the best set-piece takers in Premier League history to try to further comprehend the effectiveness of Arsenal’s work in those situations.
Speaking from his (and Odegaard’s) home country of Norway, Morten Gamst Pedersen says he rates Arsenal’s attacking set pieces as the best in the league, with their delivery being a big part of that.
“It is easier for Arsenal to create those (set-piece) chances because they believe in the player kicking the ball and know it is coming in the area where they are supposed to be,” says the former winger, who played for Blackburn Rovers from 2004-13. “They can go 100 per cent forward, where the ball is going to arrive.”
Pedersen also praises Odegaard, Rice and Saka’s deliveries, and mentions the fear factor such quality puts into opposing defences at corners.
“Everybody’s got their own technique,” he says. “If you put it with pace and dip, maybe there’s a bigger chance to score direct from the corner — a little flick can make a big difference. But if you clip it in and the ball is cleared, it doesn’t get cleared so long and will still end up in the box in a goalscoring area.
“It depends what you want, and I see Arsenal doing both. They clip it in, and sometimes they play it (with a) really high pace.”
The effectiveness of Arsenal’s different set-piece crossing towards more than one zone of the penalty area allows them to diversify their routines, because they know their takers are consistently able to put the ball where it is needed.
The beauty of Arsenal’s corner deliveries is bewitching.
When the next one reaches Gabriel, perhaps away to Burnley this weekend, he will still be in disbelief.
Spot the pattern. Connect the terms
Find the hidden link between sports terms
Play today's puzzle