Head & shoulders Above The Rest

The famous phrase goes "attack wins you games, defence wins you titles". But for Manchester City this season, it’s certainly their attack that has been their key strategy.

Their 15 goals conceded is nothing to be sniffed at, it’s the 2nd lowest in the BWSL and only 3 behind the best defence, Arsenal, who have played 2 fewer matches. However, their 55 goals scored are the best illustration of their attacking prowess, a whopping 17 goals more than any other team. This is in no small part due to their aerial prowess and success from set-pieces.

Set-Pieces

Set-piece goals are defined as goals where the ball starts from a dead-ball situation such as a corner, a free-kick, a penalty or a throw-in and results in a goal before the phase of play has broken down into open play (Source: Opta).

You can see from the graph below that Manchester City are the league’s best side from dead-ball situations, both offensively and defensively. They’ve scored 14 goals from a set-piece, which is at least twice as many as any other team. They’ve also only conceded one set-piece goal this season, Lucy Parker’s header in Villa’s 6-1 loss at the Joie Stadium in December.

Net, they have a +13 goal difference from set pieces this season so far and are one of only three teams that can boast more goals scored than conceded from dead-ball situations.

Headed Goals

Whilst not every headed goal comes from a set-piece and not every set-piece goal comes from a header, they often overlap, and it’s no surprise that the BWSL’s most prolific team from set pieces is also the most prolific team in the air.

Overall, Manchester City are not the most aerially dominant team in the BWSL. Per game, they have contested 21.9 aerial duels and won 11.7 of them, a win rate of 53.4%, which is only the 5th-best in the league. Some of City’s wingers and central midfielders have very poor numbers for aerial duels this BWSL season. City are excellent at playing to their players’ strengths. These wingers and central midfielders tend to only find themselves in aerial duels when the opposition forces them to. In possession, these players are encouraged to do what they do best, whether that be picking passes, carrying effectively, or putting hihg-quality crosses into the players that are elite in the air.

In front of goal, they have two of the most clinical players when it comes to headed shots. Bunny Shaw and Vivianne Miedema are the league’s top scorers with their head, far above the rest. For reference, Manchester City are the only team to have scored more than 5 headed goals this season.

If we look at the team as a whole, Manchester City are head and shoulders above the rest, if you’ll pardon the pun.

The Cityzens have scored as many headed goals as the next three teams combined. And only Everton can boast a better conversion than City’s 20%. It’s not just a case of putting lots of crosses in and hoping some eventually get put in. It’s both quality and quantity in the air, which leads to a significant number of goals.

Conclusion

It’s not a direct correlation between better set-pieces and better league performance. The teams vying for 2nd in the BWSL are relatively in line with mid-table teams when it comes to the number of goals scored and conceded from set-pieces. Instead, Man City’s phenomenal numbers are the result of a tactical plan from Andrée Jeglertz and his staff that is being executed incredibly efficiently by an excellent group of players. Of their 55 goals this BWSL season, Manchester City have scored 15 headed goals and 14 set-pieces, and conceded just 1 set-piece goal. It’s an incredible record that Bunny Shaw and Vivianne Miedema have been huge contributors to, two of the best goal scorers in world football, both of whom are excellent in the air.

Attack does indeed win you games, and in this case, it’s looking like titles too. The blue side of Manchester is jumping for joy, on and off the pitch.