Crystal Palace: From one of the EPL's worst at corners to one of the best

It wasn’t long ago that Crystal Palace spent two-thirds of a season without scoring from a corner.

In the 2023-24 campaign, before Oliver Glasner’s arrival, Palace’s dismal record from attacking corners was hindering the side as they sat in 16th place in the Premier League table, five points above the relegation zone.

Glasner’s first match, a 3-0 victory against Burnley, brought Palace’s first corner goal of that season. Despite adding two more goals from corners, they finished the 2023-24 Premier League with the worst goals-per-100-corners rate (1.7).

Last season, Palace’s set pieces took a 180-degree turn as they became one of the best teams at attacking corners in the Premier League.

When accounting for equal opportunity by looking at the per-corner stats — which creates a fair and level playing field across all teams, as one might have more corners than another — Palace’s rate of 6.6 xG per 100 corners and 6.4 goals per 100 corners topped the Premier League in 2024-25.

The team’s work on set pieces has been evident in their corner goals since the beginning of last season, and two aspects stand out.

First, the pinpoint deliveries from Will Hughes, Adam Wharton and the now-Arsenal player Eberechi Eze, which allow Palace to target different zones depending on the opponent’s setup and the profiles of the players.

The other feature is how Glasner’s side creates space for their centre-backs to attack. Considering the aerial ability of Maxence Lacroix, Chris Richards and Marc Guehi, it’s an approach that plays to the strengths of Palace’s squad.

The routines and target zones differ from one game to another, but the idea of creating space for Lacroix, Richards or Guehi to attack is usually present.

In this example, from the 2-1 victory against Southampton in December, the opponents are defending with three man-markers (red), Adam Armstrong (white) protecting against the short option and six zonal players inside the six-yard area.

Palace’s setup is an orthodox one: three players outside of the penalty area to defend against the counter (Tyrick Mitchell is out of shot), three runners in Richards, Jefferson Lerma and Daniel Munoz (white), Trevoh Chalobah and Lacroix as the targets (yellow) and Jean-Philippe Mateta in front of the goalkeeper (red).

As Hughes is preparing to take the corner, Richards attacks the back-post zone and Munoz dashes towards the near post to occupy Kyle Walker-Peters. However, the most effective player in this routine is Mateta, who is blocking Aaron Ramsdale.

Mateta’s role is significant because Chalobah is positioned in the space in front of Ramsdale inside a six-man zonal block that is spread out to cover all zones.

Hughes targets the right spot and Mateta prevents Ramsdale from defending the cross, which allows Chalobah a free header and the centre-back scores to make it 1-1.

Mateta’s blocking role is one of the key solutions in creating space for Palace’s centre-backs. The positioning of Palace’s six attacking players inside the penalty area is another one.

Here, in the 2-2 draw against Manchester City in the same month, Pep Guardiola’s side have seven zonal defenders, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva (red) man-marking Munoz and Lerma, and Savinho (white) protecting against the short option.

On the other hand, it’s a familiar Palace setup with Guehi, Lerma and Munoz as runners (white), targets in Lacroix and Chalobah inside the six-yard area (yellow), but Mateta (red) isn’t in position to block Stefan Ortega.

Once Hughes plays the ball towards Lacroix, Mateta (red) disrupts City’s central zonal defender, Ruben Dias, and the rest of the Palace attackers diverge towards different zones inside the penalty area.

Against City’s zone-oriented setup, the spreading of Guehi, Lerma, Chalobah and Munoz forces the opponent’s players to hold their position, and with Mateta blocking Dias, it puts Lacroix in a one-versus-one situation against Kyle Walker.

Lacroix outjumps the England defender and heads the ball into the back of the net.

In the reverse fixture, City use the same defensive setup but with different players.

Palace decide to tweak their approach, though. Munoz (red) becomes a disruptor towards the near post, and Glasner’s side attack with only two runners in Richards and Lerma (white).

Wharton’s targeting of the near-post area is complemented by Mateta, Munoz and Ismaila Sarr (red). Palace’s centre-forward pins Ederson, while Munoz and Sarr block Kevin De Bruyne and Mateo Kovacic, the first two defenders at the near post.

This creates a pocket of space, into which Wharton plays the ball perfectly. Meanwhile, Richards (yellow) escapes Gundogan’s man-marking…

… and attacks the space to score Palace’s second goal of the game.

This season, Palace have scored from a corner in the third round of the Carabao Cup against Millwall, and four days later in the 2-1 victory away to West Ham United.

In the latter example, West Ham’s defensive setup consists of Crysencio Summerville and Matheus Fernandes (white) defending the short option and players outside the penalty area, four zonal players inside the six-yard box, and four man-markers (red): Callum Wilson and James Ward-Prowse sticking tight to Richards and Lacroix, while Walker-Peters and El Hadji Malick Diouf are keeping an eye on Munoz and Guehi.

Contrary to the previous examples, Palace are using a blocker outside the six-yard box to enable a centre-back’s run — Wharton’s role (red) in this routine is to create space for Guehi’s run by blocking Diouf.

In terms of the target area, Daichi Kamada is crossing the ball towards the back post, which is left empty by Palace on purpose. Richards and Lacroix (white) are in a central position, and Mateta (red) is preventing Alphonse Areola from defending the cross.

This way, Palace vacate the back post for Guehi, who can make a free run because Wharton blocks his marker, Diouf.

As a result, Palace’s centre-back leaps higher than Maximilian Kilman and his header deflects off the West Ham defender, onto the bar, but Mateta is in position to score from the rebound.

Palace’s main approach to attacking corners isn’t complicated, but stopping them is easier said than done because the routines and target zones vary, and the delivery is often excellent.

It will be something Liverpool should be prepared for when the league leaders visit Selhurst Park on Saturday.

In a space of a year and a half, Palace have transformed their attacking corners, from being the worst in the league to one of the best.