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A key narrative of England's top flight this campaign is the drop of goals scored in open-play scenarios and how clubs have been scoring increasingly from dead-ball situations as an alternative.

Looking at scoring methods to the first 11 games the prior season, we note 39 fewer scored in open-play and 26 more from set-plays and penalties, resulting in 13 fewer in total.

Considering the bigger picture, efforts on goal sides are producing have seen an incredible 370 fewer in open play than this time last season.

Regardless of the significant rise in set-piece goals, records show just two more attempts produced from these situations excluding spot-kicks, indicating the efficiency clubs have been at discovering methods to score from set-pieces.

Scoring Rates Show the Tale

Over 300 goals scored in the first 110 fixtures so far averages out at nearly 2.75 goals per game, if maintained for all 38 games would be the lowest for five years, from five seasons ago (2.69 per game).

Yet merely under 200 goals scored in open play equates to 1.78 per fixture and is tracking to be the smallest for 16 seasons, since 2009-10 (1.76 average).

The 2009-10 season also marks the only Premier League campaign to experience scoring more frequently from set-plays excluding penalties than this season's rate of 0.77 per fixture (0.79 per game).

Which Sides Are Most Responsible?

Regarding scoring from open play, Wolves have seen the largest decrease, registering just four in their first 11 fixtures, a reduction of 10 than at this stage last season.

Outside of Wolves, England's top division's decline in goals from open play is largely a London thing, with five of the London's seven clubs netting at least five goals fewer from open-play than the previous year.

In fairness, this is primarily due to them netting many goals at the beginning of the previous campaign rather than their genuine struggle to convert in open play the current term.

Meanwhile Man City have experienced the largest rise, with almost every one of the 23 they've scored to date originating in open-play.

Set-Piece Success

Looking at the promoted teams with the teams that went down they took the place of. Play-off winners the Black Cats have netted an additional three goals in open play than the Saints achieved in matchday 11 en route to demotion last season.

In terms of goals scored from set-pieces (excluding penalties), the Gunners and Chelsea have recorded the most significant jump, with the two clubs replacing the reduction of five goals that they've scored in open-play with identical figures from set-pieces.

United have scored double the number scores from set-pieces as they did in the 11 games last season ahead of their coach assumed control, while Sunderland once more are more successful at scoring than the fellow red-and-whites that went down.

Manchester City appear not to have received the memo about scoring more from set-pieces, because they've scored three less than the previous campaign, similar to Forest, although that might be down to the tactical shift they've attempted to adopt.

Overall Patterns

Six clubs – the Gunners, Chelsea, the Cottagers, the Magpies, Tottenham and the Hammers – are this season's primary examples by recording fewer scores from open-play and more from set-pieces, while Manchester City represent the only side to buck the trend so far by performing the contrary.

It will be interesting to observe if clubs carry on to rely so heavily on set-plays as the campaign progresses or if they rediscover their all-round creativity and begin scoring additional scores in open play too.