We take another look at the takers of set pieces and penalties after Gameweek 5 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL).
Many of the players involved at dead-ball situations were carrying off where they left off before the international break.
But after the closure of the transfer window, the naming of 25-man squads and the settling down of starting XIs, it’s worth checking in to see what’s happened since then.
Based on the official Opta data in our Premium Members Area, here is a breakdown of the latest two Gameweeks.
GAMEWEEKS 4-5: PENALTY AND SET PIECE TAKERS
| Corners | Crosses from free-kicks | Shots from direct free-kicks | Penalties | |
| Arsenal | Saka (7) Martinelli (1) | Rice (1) | ||
| Aston Villa | Tielemans (6) Digne (5) McGinn (1) | Tielemans (4) Maatsen (2) McGinn (1) | Bailey (1) | |
| Bournemouth | Cook (8) Tavernier (6) Billing (1) | Cook (1) | Unal (1) | Evanilson (1) |
| Brentford | Mbeumo (5) Damsgaard (1) Carvalho (1) | Mbeumo (1) Damsgaard (1) | ||
| Brighton & Hove Albion | Hinshelwood (7) Estupinan (6) Minteh (3) Enciso (2) | Minteh (2) Hinshelwood (1) Estupinan (1) Enciso (1) | Welbeck (2) Dunk (1) | |
| Chelsea | Neto (4) Palmer (2) Enzo (2) | Palmer (1) Sancho (1) | ||
| Crystal Palace | Eze (7) Hughes (1) Wharton (1) | Eze (2) | Eze (1) | Mateta (1) |
| Everton | McNeil (3) | McNeil (3) Lindstrom (1) | Lindstrom (1) | |
| Fulham | Pereira (8) Iwobi (1) | Reed (1) | Pereira (2) | |
| Ipswich Town | Davis (11) Phillips (1) | |||
| Leicester City | Winks (6) Mavididi (1) Kristiansen (1) | Kristiansen (3) Winks (2) Mavididi (1) Justin (1) | ||
| Liverpool | Alexander-Arnold (5) Robertson (4) Szoboszlai (1) | Alexander-Arnold (3) | ||
| Manchester City | Savio (7) De Bruyne (6) Grealish (2) Gundogan (2) Bernardo (2) Doku (1) | Bernardo (1) | Gundogan (1) | |
| Manchester United | Eriksen (13) Amad (4) Fernandes (1) | Eriksen (1) Fernandes (1) | ||
| Newcastle United | Hall (3) Trippier (2) Gordon (1) Murphy (1) | Trippier (1) Tonali (1) | Tonali (1) | |
| Nottingham Forest | Ward-Prowse (2) Sosa (1) | Ward-Prowse (2) | Wood (1) | |
| Southampton | Sugawara (2) | Sugawara (3) Taylor (1) | Archer (1) | |
| Tottenham Hotspur | Kulusevski (11) Maddison (5) | Maddison (2) Porro (1) | ||
| West Ham United | Bowen (6) Paqueta (2) | Emerson (5) Paqueta (2) | Paqueta (1) | |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | Cunha (7) Ait-Nouri (1) Doyle (1) | Cunha (1) |
GAMEWEEKS 4-5: KEY TALKING POINTS
PENALTY TAKERS
All four of the penalty takers over the last two Gameweeks were worthy of note. Three of them hadn’t taken a spot-kick before for their clubs.
Chris Wood (£6.1m) tucked home his first-ever Nottingham Forest penalty on Sunday, despite last season’s taker Morgan Gibbs-White (£6.4m) and new boy James Ward-Prowse (£6.3m) being on the pitch. Gibbs-White had taken all three of Forest’s previous penalties but a) Wood hadn’t been present for any of them and b) this was the first spot-kick award of the Nuno Espirito Santo era.
We have read no pertinent quotes from the player or Forest manager after the game.
Summer signings Evanilson (£5.9m) and Cameron Archer (£5.0m) both stepped up – and missed – in Gameweek 4.
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola said that Evanilson was on a share of penalty-taking duties with Justin Kluivert (£5.4m).
Meanwhile, Southampton head coach Russell Martin suggested that Archer may not get another chance from 12 yards – although it’s worth pointing out that other mooted takers, Adam Armstrong (£5.4m) and Ben Brereton Diaz (£5.3m), were both benched in Gameweek 5.
“We are very clear. Evan[ilson] and Justin [Kluivert] are normally the ones. They have this responsibility, they talked between themselves and decided to go with Evan. It hasn’t been a bad penalty – for me, it’s a great save.” – Andoni Iraola
“Ben’s quite a bit older than Cam [hence why he’s taken more career penalties]. We’ve had a chat about it. Cam’s practised a lot over the last two weeks whilst he’s been here and Ben hasn’t.
“He’s done brilliantly with them. He’s a number nine and at some point will want to take penalties. He felt really confident to take one and Ben was happy.
“One of those things, if he scores, he’s off and away. But he didn’t so it’s going to get questioned. It’s on me and the decision we made and it’s the wrong one.
“I don’t think Ben would be [happy if Archer took the next one] because he maybe would want it. I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see if Cam’s on the pitch. We’ll talk about it.
“I think he played really well, Cam, so it’s disappointing for him. But Adam Armstrong takes it if he’s on the pitch, he’s our penalty taker, but he wasn’t.” – Russell Martin
As for Crystal Palace, it’s seemingly a jobshare between Mateta and Eberechi Eze (£6.9m). Both players were on the pitch when the Eagles won a spot-kick in Gameweek 4, with Mateta winning the argument.
“It’s [Mateta] and Eberechi. We always talk about it before the game. We say, ‘You two are the two deliverers and then you decide on the pitch, who feels better’. It was their responsibility but I trust them both. We do it sometimes in training and they always have good finishes.
“JP and also Ebz are really great penalty shooters.” – Oliver Glasner on who is responsible for penalties
WELBECK NETS FIRST DIRECT FREE-KICK OF THE SEASON
The first direct free-kick goal of 2024/25 came on Sunday, courtesy of Danny Welbeck (£5.8m). He has had a free-kick shot in each of the last two Gameweeks.
Only Eze and Andreas Pereira (£5.3m) have had more direct free-kick attempts (three) this season.
CORNERS
Despite the influx of new signings, the set-piece situation hasn’t actually changed at many clubs in the month after deadline day.
Ward-Prowse, who we mentioned above, has unsurprisingly been put immediately on set pieces at Forest.
With Will Smallbone (£5.0m) injured, defender Yukinari Sugawara (£4.5m) has been more heavily involved at free-kicks and corners at Southampton.
Pervis Estupinan (£5.0m) made his first league start of the season in Gameweek 6 and took six of Brighton’s nine corners, some from either side. Yankuba Minteh (£5.5m) came on as a substitute to take three from the left.
Elsewhere, budget midfielder Harry Winks (£4.5m) continues to play a big part at Leicester City’s set plays.
Fulham’s Pereira has taken more corners (29) than anyone else this season, with Spurs pair James Maddison (£7.5m) and Dejan Kulusevski (£6.3m) on 25 apiece.
Leif Davis (£4.5m) delivered more corner-kicks (17) than any other defender, while Matheus Cunha (£6.5m) is the only forward on indirect dead-ball duties in the division.
