Set-Piece xG
Set-piece expected goals sums the values of attempts produced from dead-ball situations, separating the rehearsed part of an attack from its open-play creation.
What it means
The phase classification includes corners, direct and indirect free-kicks and long throw-ins, with contested second phases being the least standardised part of the category.
Why it matters
It isolates a genuinely different attacking method, prevents a rehearsed dead-ball routine from being hidden inside a blended total and identifies sides whose output depends on it.
Where it is used
Attacking style profiling and opponent preparation, always reported per delivery as well as in total.
Where it misleads
The figure is much more volatile than open-play expected goals because the number of set pieces won is largely outside the attacking side's control. Second-phase attribution differs between providers.
Key points
- Report it per delivery to separate a routine from pure volume.
- It is far more volatile than the open-play figure.
- Second-phase classification is the least standardised part.
- Penalties belong in their own line, not in this category.
- Scoreline drives the number of set pieces won.
- A high total from many deliveries is a fragile position.
Where two figures for the same thing disagree, the difference is almost always in the definition rather than in the arithmetic.