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One of the biggest stories of England's top flight season so far is the reduction of scoring in open play and how teams are finding goals more from set-pieces instead.

Looking at goal sources to the first 11 games last season, we see 39 fewer goals in open play and an increase of 26 from set-plays and spot-kicks, giving us 13 fewer overall.

Examining overall statistics, shot attempts clubs are making have seen a staggering drop of 370 in open-play than this time last time out.

Even with the notable jump in dead-ball scores, we've actually seen a mere two extra shots produced from these situations excluding spot-kicks, indicating the efficiency sides are at devising strategies to net from dead-ball situations.

Goal Averages Tell the Tale

301 total goals notched in the first 110 fixtures so far works out at 2.74 scores each match, if this persists for the whole season might be the smallest for half a decade, from five seasons ago (2.69).

However, only under 200 goals scored in open-play equates to 1.78 each match and is heading to be the lowest for 16 seasons, since 2009-10 (1.76).

The 2009-10 season additionally represents the sole English top-flight campaign to witness scoring more frequently from set-plays excluding penalties than this season's rate of 0.77 each match (0.79 average).

Which Teams Are Most Responsible?

Regarding scoring from open-play, Wolves have recorded by far the biggest drop, netting only four in 11 matches, 10 fewer than at this stage last season.

Outside of Wolverhampton, England's top division's drop in goals from open play is very much a London phenomenon, with half of the London's seven clubs scoring five or more fewer goals from open play than the previous year.

In fairness, that's largely down to them scoring lots of goals at the beginning of last season as opposed to their genuine struggle to find the net in open play the current term.

Conversely Manchester City have seen the largest rise, with all but one of their 23 goals to date coming in open play.

Set-Play Proficiency

We've compared clubs that came up with the relegated sides that they superseded. Play-off winners the Black Cats have scored three more scores in open-play than the Saints did in matchday 11 leading to relegation last season.

In terms of goals scored from set-plays (aside from spot-kicks), the Gunners and Chelsea have seen the most significant jump, with both sides compensating for the five fewer scores that they've scored in open-play with an equal amount from set-pieces.

United have netted twice as many scores from set-plays as they managed in matchday 11 the previous campaign prior to their coach took charge, while the Black Cats once more prove better at netting than the club they replaced that went down.

Man City seem unaware of the memo about increasing scoring from set-plays, because they've netted a reduction of three than last season, as have Forest, although that might be down to the change in style they have tried to implement.

League-Wide Trends

Six clubs – the Gunners, Chelsea, Fulham, the Magpies, Spurs and the Hammers – represent the current campaign's primary examples by scoring fewer scores from open-play and increased from set-pieces, while Manchester City are the sole team to defy the pattern so far by performing the exact opposite.

It will be interesting to watch if clubs persist to depend greatly on set-plays as the campaign progresses or if they regain their overall inventiveness and start converting additional scores in open-play as well.