With two goals scored in Matchweek 9 from long throws, taking this season’s tally to eight, the art of hurling the ball from the touchline into a crowded six-yard box is back in vogue. Adrian Clarke takes a closer look at what’s going on.
How have the numbers exploded?
Most footballing trends increase gradually over a prolonged period, but the popularity of long throws in the Premier League has climbed with steepness in recent months.
For many years, long throws have been derided as an old-fashioned tactic, reserved for sides who rely on aerial prowess over technical ability. But across the first nine Matchweeks of 2025/26, all 20 top-flight teams have attempted a minimum of three throw-ins of at least 20 metres aimed towards the inside of the opposition penalty area.
And this has led to an average of 3.99 long throws being delivered per match; a startling rise of 162 per cent on the 1.52 per 90 we saw in 2024/25.
Long throws across last five seasons
| Season | Long throws into pen. area | Per match |
| 2020/21 | 340 | 0.89 |
|---|---|---|
| 2021/22 | 482 | 1.27 |
| 2022/23 | 548 | 1.44 |
| 2023/24 | 558 | 1.47 |
| 2024/25 | 578 | 1.52 |
| 2025/26 | 359 | 3.99 |
With less than a quarter of this campaign played, we have already witnessed more long throws than we did in the entirety of the behind-closed-doors 2020/21 season.
Since that record low, the long throw's usage has climbed gently season-by-season (see above) with each of the last three years sitting above the 1.35 average recorded between 2015/16 and 2019/20.
That period includes the previous record-high of 1.67 long throws per game in 2018/19, a tally which pales into insignificance when compared with what we are seeing right now.
Watch: Long throws causing chaos in the Premier League
Which teams use this weapon the most?
Brentford head coach Keith Andrews is fortunate to have three long-throw specialists in his ranks — Michael Kayode, Mathias Jensen and Kevin Schade — so it is no surprise the Bees have racked up the highest numbers, propelling 47 of them into the area.
Crystal Palace (Chris Richards and Jefferson Lerma), Sunderland (Nordi Mukiele), and AFC Bournemouth (Antoine Semenyo) are also prolific in their use of this specialist tactic.
It is telling that every single Premier League side is now experimenting with the ploy as a way of gaining entries into their opponents’ penalty area.
Teams with most long throws into penalty area 25/26
| Team | Total |
| Brentford | 47 |
|---|---|
| Crystal Palace | 38 |
| Sunderland | 33 |
| Bournemouth | 30 |
| Spurs | 27 |
| Burnley | 24 |
| Everton | 23 |
| Newcastle | 23 |
| Arsenal | 22 |
| Leeds | 20 |
| Aston Villa | 16 |
| Man Utd | 13 |
| Wolves | 13 |
| Fulham | 7 |
| Brighton | 6 |
| Liverpool | 4 |
| West Ham | 4 |
| Chelsea | 3 |
| Man City | 3 |
| Nott'm Forest | 3 |
Which teams are best at long throws?
Oliver Glasner's Palace players find a team-mate with 34 per cent of their long throws, double the rate of Brentford.
Therefore, it is the Eagles who pip Brentford to have the most shots and the highest Expected Goals (xG) from those situations.
| Shots from long throws | xG from long throws | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Crystal Palace | 18 | Crystal Palace | 2.03 |
| Brentford | 17 | Brentford | 1.53 |
| Sunderland | 11 | Sunderland | 1.53 |
| Bournemouth | 10 | Newcastle | 0.99 |
| Burnley | 9 | Burnley | 0.89 |
Both Palace and Brentford have scored twice from long throws too, making up half the top-flight goals scored across the first 90 matches.
It is worth pointing out that last season a goal was scored once every 27 games from a long throw; a figure which has risen markedly to once every 11.25 in 2025/26.
How are teams scoring from long throws?
Near-post flick-ons are the best source of goals when throws are launched into the penalty area.
With such a heavy focus on defending the near post, too many sides are allowing opponents space elsewhere in the box.
This classic routine below from Palace is a great example; the Eagles undid Aston Villa’s marking set-up with ease when Maxence Lacroix’s header found Ismaila Sarr untracked at the back post.
Schade and Kayode both assisted goals for Brentford, against Chelsea and Liverpool respectively, in a very similar way.
They each found Kristoffer Ajer’s head at the front post, and the Norwegian flicked on for Dango Ouatarra to score against the champions, while here below, he found Fabio Carvalho free on the other side of the six-yard box after winning the first contact.
In crowded aerial duels at the near post, the attacking side do not have to get their head on the ball to cause problems.
We saw that at Old Trafford when Diogo Dalot's long throw came off a Sunderland defender, which allowed Benjamin Sesko to convert from close range.
Chelsea have conceded twice from long throws already, but it is Liverpool on three goals conceded who are struggling to deal with them most.
In fairness to them, their concessions at Newcastle United and Palace did come from the second phase of play having partially cleared the throw itself.
Reacting too slowly to second balls and a failure to readjust their marking inside the box have been Liverpool’s main issues.
Which players throw the ball furthest?
Brentford’s Kayode is the standout star when it comes to consistently launching powerful deliveries from range.
He boasts seven of the top 15 longest throws of the Premier League season so far, with a 38.52m effort against Fulham (below) being the longest of the lot.
Kayode's Brentford team-mate Jensen actually leads the rankings with a 45.38m throw against Nottingham Forest in Matchweek 1.
However, that number should be ignored as the ball bounced several times across the face of goal before somebody got a touch on it.
So, it is Man Utd's Dalot who has launched the longest "orthodox" throw of 38.63m in their recent win at Anfield, with Kayode narrowly behind him.
Players with most long throws PL 25/26
| Player/no. of long throws | Longest throw distance | |
|---|---|---|
| Michael Kayode | 7 | 38.52m |
| Lucas Bergvall | 2 | 38.22m |
| Mathias Jensen | 1 | 45.38m |
| Diogo Dalot | 1 | 38.63m |
| Ethan Ampadu | 1 | 37.82m |
| Nico O'Reilly | 1 | 37.05m |
| Riccardo Calafiori | 1 | 37.04m |
| Kevin Schade | 1 | 36.49m |
Which players have the most accurate throws?
In terms of finding a team-mate via a long throw, Palace's Richards and Sunderland’s Mukiele lead the way with 10 and eight successful deliveries respectively.
Richards’ 34.4 per cent accuracy rating is terrific.
Players with most successful long throws 25/26
| Player | Successful long throws into box | Success % |
| Chris Richards | 10/29 | 34.4% |
|---|---|---|
| Nordi Mukiele | 8/33 | 24.2% |
| Michael Kayode | 7/42 | 16.7% |
| Antoine Semenyo | 6/25 | 24.0% |
| Tino Livramento | 5/13 | 38.5% |
It is not just about the quality of their throws of course.
You also need players on the receiving end who can time their jumps very well, and the Eagles have Lacroix as a fantastic target, as well as Marc Guehi and Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Most of the time it is a full-back, centre-back or central midfielder who offers long-throw expertise but at Bournemouth, it is attacker Semenyo who doubles up as a specialist in this field.
On his return from injury, look out for Tino Livramento making a big impression as well for Newcastle.
Eddie Howe has built a very tall Newcastle side, and with Nick Woltemade swelling those ranks this season, the Magpies are formidable in the air.
Five of Livramento’s long-throw attempts have been successful, which is a healthy 39 per cent rate of success, so when he is back, the Magpies are sure to utilise his ability in this department.
Will this trend last over the longer term, or will it be just a brief strategic flirtation from managers and their set-piece coaches?
We don’t know yet, but for now, every head coach in the division is showing more willingness than ever to give this tactic a try.
For perhaps the first time in Premier League history, it feels like teams who do not have an individual that can hurl the ball over 35 metres are at a disadvantage.