Exclusive: 'A big part of the game' - Arteta on set piece joy, Jover and 'tricking' opponents

Arsenal's prowess from set pieces has come into sharp focus in recent weeks due to the team's continued success in this area of the game. Speaking to TNT Sports, Mikel Arteta highlighted the influence of set-piece coach Nicolas Jover and spoke of how they try to adapt to stop rival teams picking up on their routines. Watch Nottingham Forest v Arsenal live on TNT Sports on Tuesday night.

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Mikel Arteta has said that Arsenal will continue to refine their increasingly successful set-piece strategy and praised the "really strong impact" of his specialist coach in this area, Nicolas Jover.

At the time of writing, the Gunners lead the way in the Premier League this season with 13 goals from dead-ball situations, including two from corners in their recent 5-0 hammering of Crystal Palace.

Arsenal’s improvement in this department coincides with Jover’s arrival in north London, after he was recruited by Arteta in the summer of 2021.

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The 2020/21 season saw Arteta’s side score just five goals from set-pieces, the third lowest of all the teams in the league that season. This figure rose to 16 and 15 respectively the next two seasons with Jover now at the club, and the trend seems to be continuing this campaign.

The combined 44 set-piece goals scored since his arrival is also more than any other Premier League team across this period (stats via WhoScored).

Jover, who previously worked for Montpelier, Croatia and Brentford, met Arteta when the two were at Manchester City, with the Gunners boss then convincing the Frenchman to join him at Arsenal.