Arsenal vs Chelsea: The are one of the leaders in the world — Reece James praises Gunners

Chelsea’s captain Reece James has lauded Arsenal’s quality from dead-ball situations, stating that their London rivals were one of the best teams in the world from set-pieces.

The Gunners scored twice from corner kicks to secure a 2-1 victory against Chelsea at the Emirates, utilising their set-piece prowess to win a difficult match. Goals from William Saliba and Jurrien Timber sandwiched a Piero Hincapie own-goal.

Chelsea themselves struggled to create anything in the game and needed a corner kick to score. They also came agonisingly close to scoring from an earlier corner before Hincapie’s own goal brought them back into the game; hence, James recognises the potency of set pieces.

He emphasised the importance of set pieces in modern football while praising Arsenal’s dominance in that sphere. 

"It's disappointing to walk away empty-handed. When it was 1-1, we had a half chance to make it 2-1; their goalie made a good save, they got a set-piece and manage to score,” he said, per the BBC. 

"This is football now in 2026; 90% of goals are probably set piece. They [Arsenal] are one of the leaders in the world [at set-pieces].

"They are difficult to stop; they scored two today. Disappointed. But we scored one; we had another chance to score another but it wasn't meant to be today."

Arsenal have scored 16 goals from corner kicks in the Premier League this season, a joint record which they share with Oldham Athletic (1992/93) and West Brom (2016/17) and themselves from the 2023/24 season, underscoring their dominance.