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One of the biggest stories of the EPL this campaign concerns the drop of scoring in open play and the way clubs are netting more from dead-ball situations as an alternative.

Looking at how goals have been scored to matchday 11 the prior season, there have been a drop of 39 scored in open-play and 26 more from set-plays and spot-kicks, giving us 13 fewer altogether.

Examining the bigger picture, efforts on goal sides are producing have seen an incredible drop of 370 in open play than this time previously.

Regardless of the big increase in dead-ball scores, we've actually seen just two more shots created from them excluding penalties, indicating the proficiency clubs have been at devising strategies to score from set-pieces.

Scoring Rates Show the Tale

Over 300 goals scored in 110 matches to date calculates at 2.74 goals each match, if maintained for the whole season might be the least for five years, from five seasons ago (2.69 per game).

Yet merely under 200 goals scored in open play averages out 1.78 each match and is heading to be the least for 16 seasons, since 2009-10 (1.76 per game).

2009-10 also marks the sole English top-flight campaign to see goals scored more frequently from dead-balls without spot-kicks than this season's rate of 0.77 per fixture (0.79 per game).

Which Teams Bear the Most Responsibility?

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

Outside of Wolverhampton, the Premier League's fall in open-play scoring is largely a trend among London clubs, with five out of the London's seven clubs netting at least five fewer goals from open-play than the prior season.

To be fair, that's largely down to them scoring lots of goals at the beginning of the previous campaign as opposed to them having difficulty to score in open play this season.

Meanwhile Man City have seen the most significant jump, with nearly all of their 23 goals this season arriving in open play.

Dead-Ball Dominance

Looking at clubs that came up with the relegated sides that they superseded. Play-off winners Sunderland have recorded an additional three scores in open-play than Southampton achieved in their opening 11 matches on their way to the drop last season.

Regarding goals scored from set-pieces (excluding spot-kicks), Arsenal and the Blues have seen the biggest increase, with the two clubs replacing the five less goals that they've produced in open-play with the same number from dead-ball situations.

United have recorded two times more goals from set-pieces as they achieved in the first 11 matches the previous campaign ahead of their coach assumed control, while Sunderland once more are more successful at scoring than the club they replaced they superseded.

City seem unaware of the trend about increasing scoring from set-plays, as they've recorded three less than last season, similar to Forest, even if this could be because of the change in style they have tried to implement.

League-Wide Trends

Six sides – Arsenal, the Blues, the Cottagers, the Magpies, Spurs and West Ham – represent this season's primary examples by scoring fewer scores from open-play and additional from set-plays, while Manchester City stand as the only side to buck the trend so far by performing the exact opposite.

It remains to be seen to see if clubs persist to depend greatly on set-pieces as the season goes on or if they rediscover their all-round creativity and begin converting more goals in open play too.