Ryan O'Hanlon Apr 3, 2026, 06:31 AM ET Close Ryan O'Hanlon is a staff writer for ESPN.com. He's also the author of "Net Gains: Inside the Beautiful Game's Analytics Revolution." We've been writing about it since October , and you hear about it every weekend now, but it still bears repeating: this season, the Premier League fundamentally changed -- almost overnight. While it's perhaps comforting to view the rise of set plays as part of the tactical ebb-and-flow that defines the history of a dynamic sport with barely any rules, this feels quite different. At this point in the previous two seasons in the Premier League, teams had combined for 798 and 737 goals from open play and the penalty spot. That's an average of about 768 goals through 31 matches. This season? That number is down to 615 -- a 20% decrease. If we just compare it to last season, it's a 23% decrease. That's not an ebb, nor a flow -- it's a tidal wave. Amidst such a tectonic tactical shift, Arsenal are fitting champions-to-be.…