Although the Premier League title race this season is still fierce, Arsenal is considered the most promising candidate for the throne. They are facing the opportunity to end 22 years of waiting since their last win of the highest league in England.
Before the weekend matches in mid-January, Arsenal is creating a 6-point gap with Manchester City and Aston Villa after 21 rounds. Mikel Arteta's team has held the top spot in the league table continuously since the beginning of October last year.
Despite missing the opportunity to increase the gap after the goalless draw against Liverpool in the most recent round, Arsenal still has a great advantage. The "Gunners" are the team with the most wins in the Premier League this season (15 matches) and possess the second most effective attack in the league with 40 goals, only 5 goals behind Man City.
Arsenal's playing style brings stability and high efficiency, but even the most loyal fans must admit that the North London team is relying heavily on set pieces. In fact, they are superior to direct competitors in the number of goals scored from free kicks, corner kicks and even own goals.
In all competitions this season, The Gunners have scored 24 goals from set pieces - the most among clubs in the top 5 European national leagues. The goal from a corner kick against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup is their 18th goal in this way in the 2025-2026 season.
In the Premier League, after 21 rounds, Arsenal has a higher goal rate from set pieces and own goals than any team that has ever won the league in history. The "Gunners" have scored 14 goals from dead balls, accounting for 35% of the total goals, and also benefited from 3 own goals - equivalent to 7.5% of their total goals.
If this trend is maintained, Arsenal in the 2025-2026 season is on track to become the Premier League champion with the highest goal rate from set pieces and own goals in history.
Statistics show that with more than 1/3 of the goals in the tournament coming from dead balls, Arsenal surpassed all previous champions in this ratio. The team closest to that number was Manchester United in the 2007-2008 season, when 27.5% of their goals came from set pieces.
Man United is also the team that benefits the most from own goals in Premier League history, with 6 goals in the 1996-1997 season (7.89% of the total goals) and repeating this achievement in the 2012-2013 season - Sir Alex Ferguson's farewell campaign.
Notably, in the 2012-2013 season, the "Red Devils" also set a record for the number of goals scored from set pieces by a Premier League champion with 23 goals, a milestone that Arsenal is likely to surpass this season.
On the other hand, Chelsea holds the champion record for scoring the most goals from penalties with 11 successful penalties in the 2010-2011 season. Meanwhile, Leicester City in the 2015-2016 season led in percentage, with 14.71% of their goals coming from penalties on the historic championship journey.
Arsenal have currently only scored 3 penalties in the Premier League this season, accounting for 7.5% of the total goals. That means, if they want to break more records related to penalties, own goals and dead balls, the "Gunners" will need even more in the remainder of the season.
