Set-piece goals in the Premier League have been a huge talking point this season and Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has referenced Arsenal when asked about his own side’s threat
Enzo Maresca has made his thoughts clear on Chelsea’s threat from set-pieces, with the Italian namechecking Arsenal ahead of the Blues’ Carabao Cup clash against Wolves.
Chelsea have already scored nine goals in the Premier League from set-pieces this season, which is the second best in the English top flight. Arsenal, as you would expect, are leading the way and have scored 11 goals via set-pieces this campaign, which equates to 69 per cent of goals scored in 2025/26.
Maresca will be hoping his side are dangerous yet again from free kicks and corners when they come up against Premier League rivals Wolves on Wednesday. The winner of the tie will progress into the Carabao Cup quarter-finals and Maresca is certainly delighted by his side’s attacking threat.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, the Italian said: “Yeah, but we also concede, Arsenal also concede from set-pieces. Set-pieces for me is part of the game.
“You are going to score goals from set-pieces and you are going to concede goals from set-pieces. It’s good news that after Arsenal we are the team with the most goals.
“And we’re going to try to continue to score goals, but not just in set-pieces. In this moment we are in the Premier League, the team with more goals. So that means that when we score goals, set-pieces or open play, probably we need to pay a little bit more attention in the goal that we are in this moment conceding.”
Arsenal have been praised for their threat from set-pieces under Mikel Arteta, with the Spaniard recently admitting his obsession started around a decade ago. “Ten years ago I said it’s a massive thing to do that (master set pieces). I started to have a vision and tried to implement a method and tried to be surrounded by the best people to deliver that,” he said.
“I went to City with the best manager in the world and I could see where we could have improved. It was clear because at some point I was doing that (working on set-pieces) and I wasn’t the best person in the world to do it.
“So if I’m not the best person in the world to do it and have the best method to do it, there are ways to improve it. And you could see that straight afterwards when it started to happen. But it’s not about being only obsessed with that.
“It’s the eagerness to constantly find ways to develop your team, to evolve your team and to give your players more tools to be more unpredictable and especially more efficient. That’s it.”
