How Arsenal turned a weakness into the Premier League’s nightmare

New Year's Day was another significant day in the Premier League title race, and Arsenal weren't even playing. Despite having 14 shots, mustering five big chances and creating an xG of 2.24, Manchester City were held to a goalless draw by Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

This leaves Mikel Arteta's team four points clear at the mid-way point of the campaign, following their 4-1 demolition of Aston Villa on Tuesday, scoring four times in half an hour.

The Gunners have also already ticked off the vast majority of difficult away fixtures; they've visited Villa Park, Anfield, Stamford Bridge, Old Trafford, the Stadium of Light, Bramley-Moore Dock and St James' Park already. Thus, of teams currently 13th or higher, Arsenal's only away matches are at Man City, Fulham, Crystal Palace and Spurs. They still have to travel to six of the bottom seven, starting at Bournemouth on Saturday.

So what has underpinned the Gunners' latest title charge, and will it carry them all the way to the end?

Arsenal's set-piece prowess

The Gunners' prowess at set-pieces is already well known. The chant "set piece again olé olé" makes that crystal clear, but two statistics underline this.

Premier League clubs most goals via corners in a calendar year

As the table documents, only nine clubs in Premier League history have scored 15 or more goals via corners in a calendar year, three of which are Arsenal, all in the last three years.

On top of this, not including penalties, the Gunners are only the second team in the Premier League to score 20+ set-piece goals in back-to-back years, after Wimbledon, who did so four years in a row between 1993 and '96.

For the majority of Mikel Arteta's six-year tenure, breaking down a low defensive block has been their kryptonite. So, their solution has been to smash open a game via set-piece goals, thereby forcing the opposition to come out. This is documented by the data below.

Arsenal PL wins 25/26: was the first goal from a set-piece?

As the table illustrates, yes Arsenal score a lot of set-piece goals, but more nuance is required. In ten of their 14 Premier League wins so far this season, 71%, the Gunners' opening goal has been via a set-piece. This trend began 13 minutes into the new campaign at Old Trafford, with Riccardo Calafiori the scorer that day, and was also the case on Tuesday.

Gabriel's return from injury is also a difference maker; the Brazilian scored his 22nd goal for the club against Aston Villa. Credit also has to be given to both Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka for their expert delivery. Like in a restaurant, the whole thing only functions if the back of house are servicing the front of house with quality ingredients, the pair required to work effectively in tandem.

Towards the end of Arsène Wenger's tenure, set-pieces were a real weakness, an aspect of the game that he did not pay much attention to. Now though, they may lead Arteta's team to a first title since Wenger's Invincibles.