IT has become one of football’s great questions, one that has left every Premier League manager and set-piece analyst stumped.
How do you stop Arsenal from corners?
The Gunners have now scored 22 goals from them since the start of last season – seven more than their nearest rival Manchester City and eight more than Prem leaders Liverpool.
Two of them came against Manchester United – Jurrien Timber and William Saliba netting in the second-half to earn Mikel Arteta’s men a vital win as they chase down Arne Slot’s Reds.
Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka were the architects with their deliveries, and each now have seven set-piece assists since the start of the 2023/24 campaign – more than any other player.
United legend Dimitar Berbatov joked Arsenal are the new Stoke City of the top flight – a side under Tony Pulis who terrorised the so-called "bigger clubs" with set-piece mastery.
Asked if Arsenal have a psychological edge on opponents from set-pieces, Timber said: “I think so, I hope so. [The team] look really dangerous from them and we feel really confident.”
Arteta will argue there is more to Arsenal than dead-ball efficiency. They have scored 28 Prem goals from 14 games so far, with just six coming from corners.
But it is undeniable that it is a deadly weapon that is fuelling yet another title charge, something that opponents need to get their heads around sooner rather than later.
So, how do you go about it? SunSport’s Jordan Davies has a few solutions:
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DOUBLE TEAM SALIBA AND GABRIEL
Of the six corner goals Arsenal have scored from this term, Brazilian bruiser Gabriel has four of them, and in his absence against United, Saliba grabbed one – albeit with a slice of luck off the Frenchman's backside.
The centre-back duo are undoubtedly the biggest threats, so why do teams insist on going zonal, just like Ruben Amorim’s United attempted at the Emirates?
Man-marking does not seem to do the trick either, so maybe it is time for some risk-taking tactics by putting two defenders on both Gabriel and Saliba and pray that no one else from Arsenal steps up?
Admittedly, this is a dangerous option.
Arsenal are a team full of six-foot giants like Thomas Partey, Riccardo Calafiori, Mikel Merino and Kai Havertz, but they also fill the box with the likes of Timber, Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard – little guys in comparison.
And if you then let Timber sneak in at the near post and flick in, like United did, then that is down to slack defending.
But if you play the odds and take out the big hitters, surely that will shake things up? As Rice said at full-time: “As long as our big centre-halves keep scoring, there’s not a problem."
USE THE EURO BLUEPRINT
Arsenal have struggled at times to replicate their Prem set-piece form on the continent – most notably on the road at Porto and Inter Milan in the Champions League this calendar year.
Against Porto back in February, 10 corners came and went without finding the net or even hitting the target, losing 1-0 to the Portuguese giants in a last 16 first leg tie.
And at the San Siro in November, Arsenal failed to seriously test Inter’s defence from 13 corners in another 1-0 loss in this year’s league phase.
This could be down to the difference in officiating styles – Arsenal’s physicality and "dark arts" in the box usually goes unpunished in the Prem, yet European refs are more trigger-happy with the whistle.
Porto players were more than happy to hit the deck knowing a foul was likely to come their way.
In comparison, in their 5-2 demolition of West Ham last weekend, Gabriel was able to wonder to the back post and flick in unmarked after blocker Timber gave Lucas Paqueta a slight nudge in the back.
Again, a risky strategy when it comes to English refs, but one that perhaps encourages VAR to take a closer look.
DON’T BLOCK CROSSES
It sounds like a silly suggestion, but Amorim explained his theory on how Arsenal increase their chances of getting into good positions to potentially win corners.
He said: “If you follow the Premier League for a long time, you can see [Arsenal are the best at set-pieces].
"They have big players and every occasion Saka and Martinelli go one against one, a lot of the time they go on the outside and cross.
“They know if the cross goes well they score. If it is a corner, they score. It is amazing how they change games.”
Arteta responded to this with the following: “We play with inverted wingers. They develop a lot inside so there’s not a lot of space inside.
“When they leave there is a lot of space for the full-back or for the six, if not then for the nine, if not you can go outside. We need to look at every angle.”
So, the answer is relatively simple. Either encourage Arsenal inside, or when they do get outside and want to cross… let them, instead of blocking for a dreaded corner routine that likely ends in a goal.
HIRE BIELSA’S SPIES
Nicolas Jover – Arsenal’s set-piece coach – is the man with the magic touch right now, producing NFL-style routines that continually evolve and adapt to the situation and opponent.
Since arriving in North London in July 2021, he has transformed Arsenal into one of the most formidable sides in Europe when it comes to both boxes.
And maybe the only way to get inside his head is to get inside Arsenal’s training base at London Colney and peak through some bushes to work out his methods.
Former Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa famously admitted to having one of his coaching staff spy on every single team in the Championship in the 2018/19 season, paying a subsequent fine of £200k.
On how often Arsenal train set-pieces, Timber said: “Not as much to be fair, but it’s not just corners, it’s every moment in the game.
"But, at the same time, there’s not a lot of time to spend on them.”