Who Are Premier League Kings Of The Long Throw?

Once upon a clip nan agelong propulsion was almost exclusively nan sphere of Tony Pulis and his Stoke City team, but now it is being utilized by beautiful overmuch each Premier League squad - and it is working.

Last play 20 goals were scored done throw-in routines. We are only 11 rounds into nan 2025-26 play and already we person had 12 goals travel astir this way.

It is besides shown successful nan summation successful nan mean magnitude of a throw. Two seasons agone it was 16.5m, past play it was 16.7, and location has been a leap successful this run to 18.6.

A agelong propulsion is defined by information analysts Opta arsenic exceeding 20m, truthful nan mean magnitude of a propulsion is creeping up to that.

But who are nan top exponents of nan agelong throw? Are immoderate grounds much suitable than others? And does Sunderland's cunning maneuver of moving nan advertizing boards make a difference?

It astir apt helps that Brentford head Keith Andrews utilized to beryllium nan set-piece coach, but if you person a limb you mightiness arsenic good usage it. And that is decidedly nan thought process of Brentford pinch Michael Kayode.

Kayode joined nan Bees successful January pinch a increasing estimation for his throws, having put successful 23 astatine Fiorentina crossed nan 2023-24 play and 24 successful nan first half of 2024-25.

After moving to nan Gtech Stadium, Kayode delivered 21 successful nan 2nd half of nan run from only six starts and six substitute appearances.

It has gone up markedly this season, pinch Kayode having hurled 54 agelong throws into nan punishment area successful 11 starts, up of Sunderland's Nordi Mukiele (46) and Crystal Palace's Chris Richards (29).

Kayode is consistent, pinch nan longest mean propulsion region (33.2m). Next is Tottenham midfielder Lucas Bergvall pinch 30.6m from 16 throws.

Burnley (Kyle Walker), Bournemouth (Antoine Semenyo), Leeds United (Ethan Ampadu) and Everton (Jake O'Brien and Vitalii Mykolenko) besides usage agelong throws a lot.

At nan different extremity of nan scale, Chelsea and Manchester City do not person a subordinate who has taken much than 1 agelong propulsion into nan box, and Brighton and Liverpool person nary subordinate pinch much than two.

Kayode's longest propulsion - 38.5m - came astatine Fulham but, while he is their first choice, location is simply a team-mate who gets much distance. Mathias Jensen achieved 45.4m astatine Nottingham Forest and 42.7m astatine Palace. Kevin Schade takes them too.

Across nan 20 Premier League grounds this season, Brentford person truthful acold achieved nan longest propulsion astatine 5 of them - and they person only played astatine six.

Brentford scored 5 goals from throw-ins successful 2024-25, and this play they person netted three: Fabio Carvalho v Chelsea, Dango Ouattara v Liverpool and Schade v Newcastle United.

Palace person besides scored 3 times, Burnley twice, and Everton, Newcastle, Manchester United and Sunderland erstwhile each.

Brentford mightiness predominate nan stats, but they do not clasp nan grounds for nan longest throw. That belongs to Rodrigo Gomes of Wolves, who managed a region of 46.1m against Everton.

Despite this, Wolves person not really utilized this weapon, pinch Gomes taking only 7 from nan 4 games he has played and Molineux having nan shortest mean region for agelong throws into nan last third.

Does nan stadium make a difference? The stats will beryllium influenced by Brentford having played astatine 5 of nan grounds successful nan apical six. The 1 they person not been to yet is nan Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, wherever Spurs are coached by Brentford's erstwhile manager, Thomas Frank.

Pitch size does not look to beryllium a facet astatine grounds wherever it is not imaginable to conform to nan modular size of a Premier League playing aboveground (105x68m). They are Anfield and Craven Cottage (100x65m), Selhurst Park (101.5x68m) and Stamford Bridge (103x67.5m).

It suggests that method is much important than nan ground.

How could you impact a team's agelong throw? Give them little abstraction for a run-up perhaps? That is precisely what Sunderland did erstwhile Arsenal visited nan Stadium of Light.

Many teams besides utilized it arsenic a maneuver against Pulis' Stoke.

Sunderland person shape for this, having brought nan boards person to nan transportation for nan 2nd limb of their Championship play-off semi-final against Coventry successful May, which they drew connected nan nighttime to triumph connected aggregate.

But, while Arsenal person a richly deserved set-piece reputation, they person not scored from a throw-in regular this season.

At nan Stadium of Light, nan mean magnitude of throws into nan last 3rd accrued crippled by crippled - from 8.3m erstwhile West Ham visited connected nan opening play to 24.9m and 27.4m respectively by nan clip Wolves and Everton made nan travel earlier nan world break.

Mykolenko's 33.2m propulsion was nan longest of nan play astatine nan ground, truthful possibly it was his transportation which made Sunderland respond earlier Arsenal's visit.

While a squad cannot alteration their transportation dimensions during a season, location is thing wrong Premier League regulations which forbids advertizing boards being moved astir depending upon who you are playing. The only stipulation is successful nan laws of nan game, which authorities that upright advertizing must beryllium astatine slightest 1 metre from nan touchlines.

"Changing nan placement of nan advertizing boards is successful nan grey zone, for illustration not watering nan transportation if you're playing a really bully method team," master throw-in coach Thomas Gronnemark told BBC Sport.

Gronnemark, now astatine Danish nine FC Midtjylland, has worked pinch galore clubs, including Brentford and Liverpool. He helped Jensen hone his long-throw trade and coached Sunderland's Mukiele astatine RB Leipzig successful 2018.

"We've seen nan aforesaid successful Denmark immoderate years ago, wherever FC Copenhagen put their advertizing boards besides only a mates of metres from nan sidelines because they played FC Midtjylland," Gronnemark said.

"People tin person different approaches. As agelong arsenic nan laws don't opportunity precisely what to do, but only urge what to do, past you can't do thing astir it."

Does it make a quality aliases is it conscionable mind games? And would Sunderland beryllium affecting nan expertise of Mukiele, their ain specialist?

"When you're taking nan advertizing boards and putting them really adjacent to nan sidelines, you person a short run-in," Gronnemark said. "If you person a short run-in, you can't make truthful overmuch power.

"If you are a bad agelong throw-in squad yourself and you're gathering agelong throw-in experts, past it tin beryllium an advantage for you. You tin weaken that weapon.

"Even though location are players who tin propulsion further than others pinch a short run-in, that's conscionable nan measurement it is because of method and physics. They will still return metres disconnected their ain throw-in.

"But if you're nan champion agelong throw-in team, past for judge make nan champion circumstances. For example, we [Midtjylland] went nan different way, to make nan stadium arsenic bully arsenic possible. We polished down immoderate actual to optimise nan run-in."

It did not make excessively overmuch quality astatine nan Stadium of Light because nan mean magnitude of a propulsion into nan last 3rd reached different play precocious successful nan Arsenal game, up to 28.6m.

Perhaps nan cardinal constituent is that only 5 agelong throws were attempted, compared to 10 and 8 by Wolves and Everton respectively. Moving nan advertizing boards and reducing nan run-in abstraction mightiness seduce a squad to spell short much often.

Perhaps for Sunderland it was much astir getting into nan heads of their opponents, to awesome they were trying to find ways to nullify a peculiar threat.