After Liverpool’s 5-2 victory over West Ham, in which three first-half goals came from corners, Arne Slot said the setup is slightly different but the main reason is a return to familiarity. That win capped a remarkable switch: seven of Liverpool’s last nine Premier League goals have come from set-plays, five directly from corners — a rapid turnaround from earlier in the season when their dead-ball record was among the worst in Europe’s top five leagues.
Slot has admitted the emphasis on set-pieces is not necessarily what his “football heart” prefers, but pragmatism has taken hold: when the league is being won from dead balls, adaptability is required. The responsibility for set plays has grown within Slot’s coaching group — he, assistants Sipke Hulshoff and Giovanni van Bronckhorst and set-piece analyst Lewis Mahoney now have more influence on routines. There are no plans to recruit a dedicated set-piece coach following Aaron Briggs’s exit at the end of December; instead Slot has favoured a collective approach to the phase of play.
Tactically, Liverpool’s change mirrors a wider Premier League pattern. Teams increasingly target the congested six-yard box with inswinging corners. Offensively, clubs now place on average 3.25 players in that zone, up from 2.51 last season. Defensively the area has become busier too — 7.33 players on average now defend the six-yard box, compared with 6.67 previously. That density reduces space for keepers to reach the ball and lowers the chance of a goalkeeper making first contact.
The delivery itself has shifted: 81% of corners crossed directly this season are inswingers, up from 71% last term and roughly 59% in earlier campaigns. For Liverpool those deliveries have paid off, benefiting strong aerial presences such as Virgil van Dijk and Hugo Ekitike, and helping players who thrive on second phases like Alexis Mac Allister.
In the most recent trio of league wins, Liverpool scored from a corner in each match. Across those games they won 28 corners, and 70% of those deliveries landed in the middle of the six-yard box — the highest-probability area for scoring — compared with just 19% earlier in the season, before Slot tightened control of set-piece delivery.
The three corner goals against West Ham were aided by poor defending, but all were inswinging balls. Ekitike’s opener and Van Dijk’s header showed both direct and indirect benefits of that approach, while the third goal came after multiple touches in the box off a shorter Mohammed Salah delivery that allowed Mac Allister to finish. West Ham had reportedly worked on plans to nullify Van Dijk, but those measures were outmatched by Liverpool’s delivery and movement.
Player movement and physical presence remain crucial. Ekitike, at 6ft 3in, used his size and sense of position to hold space, occupy markers and peel to the back post; Van Dijk continues to be a primary aerial threat. Set-pieces gain extra importance when Liverpool’s open-play supply is limited — for example when creative options like Florian Wirtz are subdued or unavailable — making a fit striker’s threat from dead balls even more valuable.
Liverpool have earned 163 corners this season, the fourth-most in the division and only seven fewer than Arsenal’s 170. Arsenal still set the benchmark for converting set plays, but Liverpool have long generated chances from dead-ball situations; with adjustments to zonal marking and delivery they are finally turning more of those opportunities into goals.