Liverpool boss Arne Slot says 'my football heart doesn't like' Premier League's set-piece trend evident in Arsenal's win over Chelsea

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Arne Slot said his "football heart doesn't like" the increased set-piece focus among Premier League clubs, which makes for matches he feels "are not a joy to watch". The Liverpool boss, though, said "you have to accept it", and it seems his side are doing just that, with three of their five goals in Saturday's 5-2 win against West Ham United coming from dead-ball scenarios.

Slot says Premier League is 'not a joy to watch' due to rise of set-piece goals

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Liverpool head coach Arne Slot said the football purist in him struggles to grapple with the new trend of the Premier League, in which set-pieces are so paramount.

In the ever-evolving football landscape, dead-ball situations are well-and-truly en vogue for elite clubs, with the focus seemingly more intense than ever before alongside the rise of set-piece coaches as staple members of backroom coaching staff.

Liverpool scored three times from corners as they dismissed West Ham United 5-2 on Saturday, while in Arsenal's 2-1 victory over Chelsea, all three goals were scored from corners.

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In re-establishing their five-point lead over Manchester City at the top of the table, Arsenal scored their 15th and 16th goals from corners this season, equalling the record in a single campaign for a Premier League side, while Chelsea also scored from the same situation in the first half.

While Slot conceded the emphasis on these situations made matches particularly competitive, he said the reliance does suck some joy out of the game.

"First of all, you have to accept it," Slot said. "I think it's mainly here in the Premier League. If I watch other leagues, I don't think there's so much emphasis on set-pieces.

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"If I watch an Eredivisie game, I see goals being disallowed and fouls on goalkeepers being given and I'm like: 'Wow, that's a big difference'. Here, you can almost hit a goalkeeper in his face and the referee still says: 'Just go on'.

"Do I like it? My football heart doesn't like it. If you ask me, thinking about football, I think about the Barcelona team from 10-15 years ago. Every Sunday evening you were hoping they would play.

"Now, most of the games I see in the Premier League are not for me a joy to watch, but it's always interesting because it's so competitive and that is what makes this league great, because there is so much competitiveness.

"Everyone can win against everyone. But just as someone who loves to watch football without being interested in winning or losing, just to be enjoyed, I think there's a big difference between now and three or four years ago in the Premier League.

"Not only because of the set-pieces but because teams have become so much stronger."

Perceived leniency from referees in corner situations has been a bone of contention as teams invent new ways to profit from such scenarios, with Everton head coach David Moyes likening some tactics to "nearly wrestling", and saying "that referees really don't want to get involved in any of it".

Speaking in his post-match press conference following the win over Chelsea, Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta refuted the suggestion that his win over Chelsea was "ugly".

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"It's not ugly," he said. "You have to play the game that is there for you to play, and against Chelsea, you know exactly the game that you're going to play.

"For me, it's a beautiful game to play because they have so much quality, and you have to adapt so much to what they do, and they have to do the same against us.

"So the margins are very, very small, and the duels at the end decide these kinds of games. Hopefully we can play many top games like this."

And while Slot has expressed his dislike for the way the game is evolving, he has not exiled himself from getting in on the trend.

Per BBC, seven of Liverpool's most recent nine goals have come from set-pieces, and after the match he voiced his delight at being able to profit from dead-ball scenarios.

"It's very pleasing because firstly that is the reason we have won," said Slot. "Second of all, people said well played, and in my opinion we have been better when we lost and better when we conceded from set-pieces.

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"The first half of the season, almost every set-piece we conceded went in. Now we start scoring from set-pieces and things start looking brighter and better than when you don't."

Slot's side look to continue their charge towards the top four as they visit Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday - live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

Stream the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, Men's and Women's FA Cup and more on TNT Sports and discovery+

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