Arsenal match West Brom record in Premier League after latest win
West Brom’s long-standing Premier League record has finally been equalled by Arsenal.
The Baggies were last in the top-flight in the 2020-21 season but were relegated to the Championship under Sam Allardyce, and they have remained in the second tier ever since.
Their woes this campaign took another dramatic turn for the worse after the 2-1 defeat by Oxford United on Saturday, leaving them 21st and just one point above the drop zone.
Teetering on the brink, The Hawthorns outfit’s form is in stark contrast to their glory days at the top of the English football pyramid.
Indeed, their prowess in one particular area certainly left a lasting impression.
Read more: Aune Heggebo is exposing West Brom’s biggest issue this season, stats show why
West Brom’s impressive Premier League set-piece record
West Brom became a set-piece machine during the 2016-17 season, having used their physicality to devastating effect.
They scored no less than 16 goals from corners under dead-ball maestro Tony Pulis, a joint-best effort alongside Oldham Athletic during the 1992-93 campaign.
Netting 43 times in total in the Premier League that year, around a third of all of their goals came from devilish deliveries from the left and right corner flags.
Scoring from those situations became something of a habit after Pulis tasked his players with packing the penalty area and making clever runs once the ball had been swung in.
Their record lasted for a decade, only for Arsenal to match them on Sunday.
William Saliba and Jurrien Timber both scored from corners against Chelsea, meaning they are poised to steal West Brom’s crown.
James Morrison must take inspiration in survival bid
There are plenty of lessons to be learned from set pieces for the current Baggies crop.
While interim boss James Morrison must contend with issues all over the pitch, his primary objectives are simple: West Brom must score more and tighten up at the back.
At present, the Baggies have been poor in front of goal, having scored just 34 times from their 35 Championship fixtures to date. That is nowhere near enough.
A simple place to start would be to address dead-ball situations.
Scoring just a handful more between now and the end of the season may be the difference between survival and relegation.
Morrison would therefore do well to flick through the Pulis handbook of corner kick mastery.
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