Each to their own, says Guardiola, as set piece debate deepens

LONDON, March 3 : Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and Arsenal counterpart Mikel Arteta share a common goal in their battle for Premier League supremacy but are going about achieving it in very different ways.

While leaders Arsenal have become kings of the set piece this season, scoring 33 per cent of their 58 goals from such situations, including 16 from corner routines, City have largely shunned the Premier League's new obsession.

This season, 27 per cent of all Premier League goals have come from set pieces, more than any other league in Europe and the highest percentage in England's top flight since 2009-10.

Corners have led to 138 goals, already more than in the whole of the previous campaign.

Guardiola brought his famed tika-taka style to the Premier League when he arrived at City in 2016 and has remained faithful to an intricate possession-based style during a glittering reign that has delivered six English titles and provided a blueprint that many others tried to follow.

The signing of goal-machine Erling Haaland led to a slightly more direct style in recent seasons, but City's essence remains intact, evidenced by the fact they are second-bottom of the table based on goals scored from set plays at 10.5 per cent.

"Set-pieces have started to be important. It was different when I started as a manager," Guardiola told reporters on Tuesday ahead of his side's crucial home clash with Nottingham Forest which they need to win to keep the pressure on Arsenal.

"When I was a young boy we said the people in England celebrate corners and free-kicks like a goal. I remember perfectly, so nothing has changed in that way."

Arsenal are not lacking for flair players and usually dominate possession but were labelled "ugly" by BBC