Premier League Set Piece Specialists - 2018/19 FPL

Premier League set-piece specialists to consider for your 2018/19 Fantasy Premier League team

We continue our research into the best picks for the 2018/19 Fantasy Premier League season, with a look into which players and teams scored the most goals from penalties, free kicks and corners, last time around.

As always, we have provided you with a video version of this article, which you can find above.

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Which teams won/conceded the most penalties?

Crystal Palace won a league-high tally of 10 penalties last season, beating Man City and Everton (with 8), Brighton (with 7) and Leicester and Watford (with 6).

Burnley were the only side not to win a penalty, while Newcastle and the now relegated Swansea and West Brom, were awarded just 1 apiece.

6 penalties conceded by Arsenal was the joint-highest amongst Premier League sides last season, along with Huddersfield, Liverpool, Newcastle, Watford, West Ham and the now relegated Swansea.

Meanwhile, Man Utd conceded the joint-fewest penalties in the league, on par with the now relegated West Brom; those two sides conceded just 1 penalty each last season – further highlighting why and how Jose Mourinho’s side kept a league-high tally of 19 clean sheets.

Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Man City and Southampton were also well-disciplined when it came to conceding fouls in the box; each giving up just 2 penalties.

Which players won/scored the most penalties?

Raheem Sterling won 6 of his team’s 8 penalties last season and no Premier League player won more than the England international. Wilfried Zaha’s 4 penalties won for Crystal Palace was the joint-second best contribution, alongside Calvert-Lewin of Everton.

Unsurprisingly, Milivojevic (7) scored the most penalties in the Premier League last season. He took 8 of his teams 10 spot kicks and scored all but 1.

Jamie Vardy was next in line for penalty goals last season; he stepped up to take all 6 of Leicester’s penalties, converting 5.

Man City’s 8 penalties were split between Sterling, Jesus, Gundogen and Aguero but crucially, the Argentine scored all 4 of the penalties that he stepped up to take.

Which players dominated from free kicks?

2 goals from free kicks, managed by Chelsea’s Marcos Alonso, was more than any other Premier League player last season, but the Spaniard’s starting place could now be under threat, following new manager Maurizio Sarri’s change to a 4-3-3 formation.

11 players were tied with 1 free kick goal and amongst that group were the likes of Milivojevic, Alexis Sanchez, Mahrez, De Bruyne and Eriksen.

Eriksen’s tally of 17 shots from free kicks was more than any other player in the league; beating De Bruyne’s 15 attempts, Sanchez’s 14 and Kane, who struck 10 efforts from free kicks last season.

The Denmark international also produced a league-high tally of 5 assists from free kicks last season, beating Xhaka and Shaqiri with 4 and Sané, Mahrez and Fabregas (amongst others), with 3 assists from free kicks.

The Spurs midfielder enjoyed even more set piece dominance when it came to crosses from free kicks.

His tally of 12 accurate crosses from free kicks last season was on par with Huddersfield’s Aaron Mooy and only Shaqiri produced more, with 14.

But following his transfer to Liverpool, will the Switzerland international be given such a key role in terms of set piece duties in the coming season?

Which players and teams dominated from direct corners?

Pascal Groß (40) took the most ‘successful corners’ in the Premier League last season, beating the likes of De Bruyne (36), Gudmundsson (32), Eriksen (30) and Fabregas (29).

But surprisingly, only 3 of Brighton’s 34 league goals came from direct corners; joint-fewest in the Premier League, along with Everton.

The now relegated West Brom scored the most goals from direct corners (11), while Arsenal, Bournemouth and Man City were joint-second, scoring 10 apiece.

Harry Kane’s tally of 22 attempts from direct corners was more than any other player managed, beating Duffy (21), Otamendi (20), Dunk (20) and Van Dijk (17).

The Spurs forward’s 4 goals from direct corners was also a league-high, beating Tomkins, Smalling, Lascelles and Okazaki – with 3 and Otamendi, Lovren and Steve Cook (amongst others) – with 2.

Even more interesting is the fact that Spurs only scored a total of 5 goals from direct corners throughout the season, with Dele Alli (1) the only player to convert one, besides Harry Kane.

Also worth reading:

> The Pundits Team – First Draft!

> Players to Watch – Goalkeepers

> Players to Watch – Defenders

> Players to Watch – Midfielders

> Players to Watch – Forwards

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Thank you for reading ‘Fantasy Premier League Tips – Premier League Set Piece Specialists – 2018/19 FPL’ which was written and produced by @_FPLTips