GUARDIOLA NOT A FAN OF SET PIECES

City boss adapts to them, but says it would be boring if all teams played the same way

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Manchester City's Matheus Nunes warming up before their match against Leeds United on Feb 28. City won 1-0 for their fourth straight Premier League victory to keep the pressure on Arsenal.

(PHOTO: REUTERS)

er Pep Guardiola and Arsenal counterpart Mikel Arteta share a common goal in their battle for English Premier League (EPL) 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 corners, second-placed City have largely shunned the league's new obsession.

This season, 27.5 per cent of all EPL 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 EPL when he arrived at City in 2016.

He 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.