Aston Villa have managed to sustain their success from set-pieces over the course of several seasons
17:36, 11 Apr 2026Updated 17:57, 11 Apr 2026
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery with set piece coach Austin MacPhee(Image: PA)
There’s only one team in Europe’s top five leagues that has scored more goals from set-piece situations over the last three seasons than Aston Villa.
That team is, as you’d expect, Arsenal – the current Premier League leaders whose fanbase have become known for celebrating corners more than any other.
So it’s hardly surprising that Unai Emery often opens his post-match press conferences by highlighting his team’s corner count, alongside other indicators of a succesful performance such as control and structure.
Taking advantage of marginal gains is arguably more important than ever at the top level, and Villa’s coaching staff, led by Emery, analyse every detail to equip the squad with the tools they need to maximise results.
Austin MacPhee, who joined Villa in August 2021, has worked under three different head coaches – Dean Smith, Steven Gerrard, and now Emery – and his expertise has yielded significant benefits.
In the 2023/24 season, Villa scored more goals (25) from set-piece situations than any of the other clubs in Europe’s top five leagues, and they have managed to sustain that success.
Last season, Villa scored another 20 goals from set pieces, a total bettered by only four clubs: Bayer Leverkusen (21), Arsenal (23), Inter (24), and Barcelona (25).
This season, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal have scored 25 times from set pieces, with Villa second on the list with 20 goals.
Indeed, Arsenal and Villa are the only two teams in Europe’s top five leagues to have scored at least 20 goals from set plays in each of the last three seasons.
This season alone, Villa have scored set-piece goals in 11 wins across all competitions, including three in their last two victories against West Ham and Bologna.
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