Set-piece analytics, from delivery to second ball
Corners, free kicks, throw-ins and penalties analysed with event, 360 and tracking data. Models, audits and match-week reports built for your set-piece coach and analysts.
Set-piece services
Set-piece audit
A full review of your attacking and defending set pieces over a season or half-season, benchmarked against the league.
Includes
- Delivery map and value by landing zone
- First-contact and second-ball win rates
- xG by phase against the league average
- Defensive set-up and where shots are conceded
- A ranked list of priorities for the coaching staff
Best for: Pre-season, a new set-piece coach, or the winter break
Opponent set-piece report
A match-week report on how the next opponent attacks and defends set pieces.
Includes
- Routines, takers and preferred delivery zones
- Box set-up at the kick: zonal, man or mixed
- Aerial threats and first-contact winners
- Where they concede, and which deliveries exploit it
Best for: Weekly match preparation
Routine design support
Working alongside your set-piece coach to design and test routines with data.
Includes
- Which zones and delivery types produce shots
- Box occupancy and run timing from tracking data
- New routines tested against league-wide outcomes
- Follow-up after every block of matches
Best for: In-season training cycles
Taker and target recruitment
Set-piece value as a recruitment criterion, across 17 league-seasons.
Includes
- Takers ranked by delivery value added
- Aerial targets ranked by first-contact wins
- Goalkeepers who command the box at corners
- Split-half checks on how repeatable each skill is
Best for: Transfer windows
Season set-piece dashboard
Every set piece for and against tracked through the season and updated after each matchday.
Includes
- Own team against the league, matchday by matchday
- Trends in delivery value, first contact and second ball
- Alerts when a routine stops working
Best for: Clubs with an ongoing set-piece focus
Set-piece database and integration
A dedicated set-piece database for your club, with the delivery value model running inside your own workflow.
Includes
- Every restart from every provider in one ID-matched database
- Delivery value scored automatically after each matchday
- Built on the open-source wa-setpieces package
- Documentation and a handover session for your analysts
Best for: Clubs with in-house analysts
Every restart, attacking and defending
Corners
Delivery type and swing, landing zones, first contact, second ball, box occupancy and runs.
Free kicks
Delivered free kicks scored on the delivery, value by origin zone, and shot quality from direct free kicks.
Throw-ins
Long throws into the box, throw-in retention by zone and comparisons across leagues.
Penalties
Taker placement tendencies, goalkeeper dive patterns and penalty expected goals.
Defending set pieces
Zonal, man or mixed shape at the kick, numbers in the box and the zones that concede shots.
Goalkeepers at set pieces
How often corners against a keeper end in a shot, claims, and movement during the delivery.
The models behind the work
Set-piece Delivery Value
Every corner and delivered free kick is scored on the strike itself: speed, flight time, height, swing and target. The model is trained on 17 league-seasons and splits each delivery into its first, second and third phase.
Value is measured against an average delivery from the same spot, which separates the quality of the taker from the quality of the routine.
Landing zones and league benchmarks
Where deliveries land decides most of what follows. A value surface per landing zone shows which targets produce shots and goals, and how your league compares with others.
Box occupancy and runs from tracking
Tracking data shows what event data cannot: where every attacker starts, where they arrive when the ball is struck, and how many bodies each side commits to the box.
Goalkeepers at set pieces
Combining set-piece event sequences with tracking shows how a goalkeeper's movement during the delivery relates to how often corners against them end in a shot.
A database built for set pieces
Set-piece information is spread across event feeds, 360 freeze frames, tracking data and video. The set-piece database brings every restart into one structure, so a question like “which of our inswinging corners to the far post won the first contact this season?” is one query instead of a day of work.
restarts
Restarts
One row per corner, free kick, throw-in and penalty: match, minute, side, taker, type and technique.
deliveries
Deliveries
Speed, flight time, height, swing, target and landing zone, with the delivery value score.
phases
Phases and outcomes
First contact, second ball and third phase, with shots, xG and goals for each phase.
setup_frames
Set-up at the kick
360 freeze frames and tracking snapshots: every visible player's position, the marking scheme and numbers in the box.
runs
Runs and movement
Runs from start position to arrival, and goalkeeper movement during the delivery, from tracking data.
players_routines
Players and routines
Takers, targets and goalkeepers matched across providers, plus routine tags defined by your staff.
How it is built
- Loads IMPECT, StatsBomb incl. 360, Opta, Wyscout and SkillCorner data
- Players, teams and matches matched across providers
- Updated automatically after every matchday
- Queryable in SQL or Python, or in plain language through a local language model
- Every row linked to match and minute, ready for video clipping
- Runs as a standalone DuckDB database or inside your existing data warehouse
- Feeds the set-piece dashboard, opponent reports and audits
One team's corner identity, from tracking data
A worked example of a set-piece audit, built on a full Premier League season of SkillCorner tracking and event data for one team: 93 attacking and 55 defending corners.
Inside a set-piece audit
- Executive summary: the three findings that matter most
- Volume and outcomes against the league, for and against
- Delivery map, landing zones and delivery value by taker
- First contact, second ball and third-phase xG
- Box occupancy and runs at delivery, where tracking is available
- Defensive set-up and the zones that concede shots
- Free kicks, throw-ins and penalties
- Ranked recommendations for the coaching staff
From data to the training pitch
- 01
Scope
Agree the questions, the competitions and the data your club has access to.
- 02
Analyse
Every set piece is extracted, scored and checked against the league.
- 03
Present
Findings are walked through with the set-piece coach and analysts.
- 04
Follow up
Routines are re-measured after each block of matches.
Common questions
What data do you need?
Event data from any major provider is enough to start. StatsBomb 360 freeze frames or tracking data add set-up, marking and runs.
Do you work directly with set-piece coaches?
Yes. Most set-piece work is delivered to the set-piece or assistant coach together with the analysis team.
Can findings be linked to video?
Every finding references the match and minute, so your video analysts can clip the moments directly.
Is the model only for corners?
Corners and delivered free kicks share the delivery value model. Throw-ins and penalties have their own analyses.
Can the set-piece database run on our existing systems?
Yes. It can run as a standalone DuckDB database or inside your existing data warehouse, using the data your club already licenses.
Can we run the models ourselves?
Yes. The models can be integrated into your workflow, and parts of the toolkit are open source as wa-setpieces.
Make set pieces a weapon, not a lottery
Tell me where your set pieces stand today and what you want to change. I will propose the analysis that fits.