Premier League Set Piece Takers

With the soccer seasons across Europe’s top 5 domestic leagues in full swing after the FIFA World Cup that took place in Qatar, I thought it would be good to refocus attention towards the specialists who will be responsible for dead ball attacking output throughout the campaign.

Arsenal and Manchester City appear to be in a two horse race for Premier League glory, with sleeping giants Manchester United following close behind.

So, using information such as events gathered from matches played last season, statistics, pre-season games, the January transfer window as well as current and expected roles at teams, I’ve put together a well researched list of players who take free kicks, corners and penalties for the teams competing in the world’s most watched soccer league.

Let’s get started then, shall we?

Set piece takers from the Premier League’s traditional “big six”

If you’ve landed on this page then the chances are high that you’d want to find out who takes free kicks, corners and penalties from the most popular teams in the division.

Well, you’re in luck as this article does exactly that!

First up on the list is…

1. Manchester City

The reigning Premier League champions managed to acquire world class Norwegian forward Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund.

With the Mancunian club paying a 51.5 million pound fee to capture the former Borussia Dortmund player’s signature, you’d expect the man to be on penalty duty right from the get-go.

And that has proved to be the case.

At the time of updating this article, Haaland has converted all four attempts from the spot this season.

He also has a fairly capable deputy in Riyad Mahrez, who’s scored from his only penalty opportunity this campaign too.

Although, it must be noted that Mahrez’s career record from 12 yards is far from stellar, with the Algerian being at the center of some high-profile penalty misses in previous seasons.

Free kicks and corners are basically monopolized by the Belgian – Kevin De Bruyne.

Phil Foden, Riyad Mahrez or Bernardo Silva will occasionally whip one in from a wide area, but Kevin is always first choice here.

On to number two…

2. Liverpool

The Scousers are having one of their worst league campaigns ever since Jurgen Klopp joined the club many seasons ago.

You’d have to go back to the dark days of Brendan Rodgers tenure to find Liverpool start a season as poor as this.

So far this season, the team haven’t had any penalties to take in the league.

But should they get an opportunity to slot home from the spot, Mohamed Salah is up to the task.

Last season, Salah scored five of his six penalty attempts for a solid 83.3% conversion rate.

Fabinho also netted twice from the spot, but that happened when either of Salah or James Milner weren’t on the field.

Milner is first pick, followed by Salah and then Fabinho.

Free kicks are left to none other than Trent Alexander Arnold.

The English right back is fantastic at set piece delivery and will take the direct free kick opportunities when on the field.

On the other hand, Andrew Robertson will take majority of the corners and even some free kicks should Trent give him the chance.

3. Chelsea

Another club undergoing a big transition is Chelsea.

The club’s ownership changed hands, as American Todd Boehly bought the club from Russian Oligarch Roman Abramovich in May last year.

It remains to be seen who will be on penalties for them, as their usual taker Jorginho departed the club to join Arsenal in the January transfer window.

Potential candidates for penalty duty here are:

• Kai Havertz;
• Mason Mount; and
• Hakim Ziyech

When Thomas Tuchel was still in charge, Mason Mount deputized for an absent Jorginho, with the former boss stating that Mount and Jorginho were his two preferred takers.

Following the change in management at Stamford Bridge, Hakim Ziyech and Kai Havertz have each stepped up to take penalties in cup competitions, which happened when Mount wasn’t present on the field.

So, it currently remains to be seen who will assume primary responsibility for penalties.

Meanwhile, direct free kicks should be in the hands of Reece James, Mason Mount, Ben Chilwell or Hakim Ziyech.

Corner duty will also be rotated between the following players:

• Connor Gallagher;
• Hakim Ziyech;
• Ben Chilwell;
• Reece James;
• Mason Mount; and
• Raheem Sterling

4. Manchester United

Erik ten Hag has sparked Manchester United in to life.

Marcus Rashford has been in fine scoring form after the World Cup, and the team has demonstrated renewed defensive vigor.

Penalties should be left to Bruno Fernandes following Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure to Saudi Arabian team Al Nassr.

Fernandes took one in United’s recent home win over Crystal Palace, with Rashford on the field.

The Englishman should take them when Bruno isn’t available to do so.

Direct free kicks should be juggled between Fernandes, Marcus Rashford and Christian Eriksen, with corners taken mainly by Luke Shaw and Fernandes.

5. Arsenal

The Gunners’ renaissance has been great to see this season.

Arteta has got the squad firing on all cylinders as Arsenal sit in 1st place at the time of writing.

Bukayo Saka has been on penalty duty so far, scoring twice from the spot.

With Jorginho joining the team, he’s expected to be the backup taker should Saka be unable to step up.

Although, last season Gabriel Martinelli has taken and scored one with Saka present, so we’re not quite sure how the pecking order will change here with Jorginho coming in.

Conversely, direct free kicks should be left to Martin Ødegaard, with Martinelli getting a chance to take one every now and again.

Lastly, Martinelli and Saka take corners on each side of the pitch.

6. Tottenham Hotspur

Harry Kane is the man for penalties at Tottenham, scoring two of his three attempts this season.

Son Heung-min is the expected backup taker but he rarely if ever gets any chance to score from the spot due to Kane being almost ever-present.

Free kicks rotate between the trio of Harry Kane, Eric Dier and Son Heung-min but the South Korean should really have a strong case to take them primarily as he’s arguably the best at it out of the three.

Corners are also shared between Son, Perisic and Kulusevski.

Set piece takers from the Premier League’s newly promoted teams

From the table above I’m sure you can see three new team additions.

This is because last seasons bottom three teams were relegated to the league below – the EFL Championship.

Coming in their place were the three promoted teams from the aforementioned league, who I’ll now talk a bit about in turn…

Bournemouth

Bournemouth are back in England’s top division after managing to finish 2nd in the EFL Championship last season (i.e. 2021/2022).

There are quite a couple of new faces in the side, as it’s only the likes of players such as Junior Stanislas, Phillip Billing, Jefferson Lerma and Dominic Solanke that people are likely to remember from the team that got relegated when they were in the Premier League last time.

Solanke has emerged as the talisman for the club and he’ll be expected to lead the line well this campaign.

He will take up primary spot kick duty, with Junior Stanislas deputising for him in case of any unavailability.

Nottingham Forest

Here we have the wildcard team.

Nobody really knows what Nottingham Forest are going to be able to produce in the Premier League, because they haven’t been in the division for several seasons.

Their top striker Lewis Grabban left the club, which leaves Brennan Johnson as their main penalty taker.

But they’ve made a strong addition in the goalkeeping department, nabbing Manchester United’s Dean Henderson on loan for the campaign.

Fulham

London club Fulham are also back in the Premier League this season.

A lot of fans see them as a welcome addition back into England’s top division, as their Craven Cottage stadium ground is a sight to behold and offers a fantastic match day experience for travelling fans.

Anyway, Aleksandar Mitrović will be looking to hit the ground running with goals this year, because he’s generally struggled to find the back of the net in the Premier League.

The Serbian forward netted an all-time Championship record 43 goals last season, so he’ll want to pick up right where he left off if Fulham are to have any chance of survival this term.

Willian, Harry Wilson, Andreas Pereira and Tom Cairney should be good for the bulk of the set pieces, and with their quality at free kick and corner delivery, Fulham should be one of the sides who score quite a few from dead ball situations.

Full Premier League competition set piece takers list

Which team scored the most set piece goals in the 2021-22 Premier League season?

I’m fairly sure that a lot of you reading this article will be curious to know which team registered the most set piece goals in the last season.

Well, the eventual champions Manchester City topped the charts here with 21 set piece goals, followed closely behind by Liverpool who had 19 to their name.

And then Chelsea led the rest of the distant chasing pack with 11 goals here.

And when it came to penalties, Chelsea converted the most with 8 goals; a tally that Manchester City and Liverpool came close to match as they notched 7 goals from the spot respectively.

Conclusion

If you’ve enjoyed this post on the Premier League’s dedicated set piece specialists, then you might also be interested in our article on the 31 year olds currently playing in the Premier League or our comprehensive breakdown of the American soccer players present in the English Premier League!

And with the world’s biggest football tournament fast approaching, we also developed a set piece takers list for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Be sure to check that one out!

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Samuel Waihenya

CEO & Digital Publisher at Cosy Content Limited

Samuel Waihenya is 27 years of age and has been watching, discussing, as well as playing soccer for well over 10 years.

With a solid educational background in business management, the Soccer Whizz website is his first foray into the digital web space and it has been created with the intention of providing the absolute best soccer content for its readership.

Have a read through Samuel Waihenya's author bio page here.

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