Why defending corners against Luton Town is a nightmare

“They are so good at set pieces and they made us really fight for the game.”

Mikel Arteta said what everyone in the Premier League has quickly come to realise: defending corners against Luton Town is a nightmare.

The Arsenal manager saw his team concede twice from corners at Kenilworth Road on Tuesday night, just like Sunderland did in the Championship play-off semi-final second leg last season. Everton and Crystal Palace have also been punished this season.

In fact, as the table below shows (which does not include matches on December 6), a quarter of Luton’s 16 Premier League goals have come from corners – Alfie Doughty’s excellent left foot has a lot to answer for in that respect.

Forget your intricate short corner routines (only one of Luton’s 77 corners this season falls into that category); Luton stick the ball in the box. Some might say in the mixer. Either way, it is hugely effective, especially when combined with some clever blocking, intelligent movement, controlled aggression and the use of team-mates as a screen.

Throw in the courage and desire of Tom Lockyer, Elijah Adebayo’s aerial presence and Carlton Morris’ determination to attack every delivery as if his life depends on it and it’s little wonder Luton carry such a threat from corner kicks.

Indeed, after watching those 77 corner kicks and the panic Luton provoke in opponents, the only surprise is that Rob Edwards’ team have not had more reward so far this season.

Let’s start with Luton’s 4-3 defeat against Arsenal.

The first thing to say is that Arsenal have every player back defending and employ a mix of man-to-man and zonal marking, which is not uncommon now.

Arsenal’s centre-backs, Gabriel and William Saliba (circled in yellow), are both on the edge of the six-yard box and freed up from marking.

Luton put four players closely together around the penalty spot – a fairly standard tactic for them. Gabriel Osho, the goalscorer, is circled in white. Gabriel Martinelli is tasked with marking him.

You can see Arsenal’s setup more clearly in the picture below – they have six players including the goalkeeper, David Raya, inside the six-yard box. Ben White is in line with the near post and Kai Havertz is just ahead of him. Martin Odegaard is tasked with picking up Ross Barkley, who is essentially making a nuisance of himself.

The onus is on Gabriel and Saliba to attack the ball while the four markers – Martinelli, Declan Rice, Jakub Kiwior and Gabriel Jesus – make life as difficult as possible for the players they are up against.

As Doughty delivers, Teden Mengi (circled below) spins to the right, taking Kiwior with him.

Osho, just to Mengi’s right, is simply too strong for Martinelli in the physical duel.

The ball sails over the head of Gabriel…

… and Osho, with clear daylight between him and Martinelli (both circled below), heads emphatically past Raya.

The pros and cons of man-to-man and zonal marking have long been debated. At the same time, many will wonder if Osho would have scored if he had been marked by a defender rather than Martinelli. Did Arsenal need White and Havertz in the near-post area?

With Luton’s next corner, in stoppage time at the end of the first half, you see the benefit of Saliba having a free run to attack the ball.

Saliba towers over the posse of players below…

… and heads the ball way outside the area.

Arsenal were soon undone again though.

Interestingly, Martinelli (circled in yellow) is no longer picking up Osho (circled in white). Instead, Bukayo Saka has swapped with Martinelli. The goalscorer, Adebayo (circled in red), is being marked by Rice.

Both Osho and Mengi spin around the back, which gives Luton a threat and presence at the far post for a flick-on, but also clears the centre of the box for Adebayo.

In fairness, Barkley (circled below) is much more than a nuisance. His job is to prevent Gabriel from being able to attack the ball.

Arsenal have done their homework in that respect and Odegaard, wrapping his arms around Barkley, blocks him.

Doughty’s in-swinging delivery is right on the money though – between the two Arsenal centre-backs and on the edge of the six-yard box – enticing Raya to come for a ball that he would probably rather leave alone.

Adebayo leaps superbly…

… gets to the ball ahead of Raya, who arrives with nothing like the same determination as the Luton striker, and the hosts are back on level terms.

One tactic Luton employ really well at corners is to use a team-mate as a screen to block opponents, making it hard for them to be picked up. Lockyer does it a lot and a Luton player often ends up free in the area as a result.

In the image below against Brentford, Lockyer (No 4, circled in white) positions himself directly behind Mengi, creating confusion and making it nigh on impossible for Neal Maupay to get close to him.

When the ball is delivered, two Brentford players end up following Lockyer (circled in white), leaving Mengi (circled in yellow) unmarked.

Lockyer uses Morris as a screen against Palace in the next example…

… and nearly gets a shot away.

And look at this image from the Burnley game, where four Luton players hold onto each other. How can you mark them?

Against Everton, there was a role reversal as Morris used Lockyer to clear a path for him.

With Lockyer blocking Vitaliy Mykolenko, who should have been picking up Morris, the Luton striker is able to attack the corner at pace.

Excellent in the air, Morris climbs highest, but his effort is nodded behind.

A reprieve for Everton, but only a temporary one.

Luton score from the corner that follows and once again it is the Lockyer and Morris show. As Lockyer grapples with the Everton centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite, Morris shrugs off Mykolenko…

… so much so that the forward, circled below, is completely free when Doughty crosses.

Getting to the ball ahead of James Tarkowski, who was marking zonally, Morris wins the first contact. His header is saved but…

… Lockyer, stretching every sinew, blocks Ashley Young’s clearance, turning the ball into the net in the process.

It certainly won’t win goal of the season, but Lockyer gets full marks for commitment every time he sets foot in the opposition penalty area. He is one of those rare defenders who goes up for corners almost expecting to score.

The other key figure in all of this is Adebayo, who at 6ft 4in (1.93m) is a problem for opponents to deal with, even when he has both feet on the ground.

Before this corner against West Ham, Adebayo casually grabbed hold of the wrist of goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.

Adebayo then pulls Areola’s arm down – an incident that brings back memories of playing alongside the father of a current England international, who would regularly do the same thing and pin the goalkeeper’s arm to his side while a corner was being taken.

Areola breaks free but ends up indebted to Kurt Zouma for dealing with another superb Doughty corner.

The last of Luton’s four goals from corners this season arrived against Palace – it was the first time Roy Hodgson’s side had conceded from a corner since April.

This time, Lockyer and the goalscorer, Mengi (circled), start just outside the area. Two Palace players, Joachim Andersen on the edge of the six-yard box and Odsonne Edouard just inside it, are zonal.

That three-versus-three on the edge of the area is where the goal comes from though…

… and it actually turns into a three-versus-two in Palace’s favour because Chiedozie Ogbene (circled below) stays put.

Ideally, defenders are told to adopt an open body position so they can see the ball and their opponent, but that is a lot easier said than done in these scenarios and certainly isn’t the case here.

Joel Ward, the Palace No 2 who was initially marking Mengi, has no sight of the Luton player now.

Andersen challenges, but the ball brushes off Marc Guehi’s back…

… and runs through to Mengi, who is now being loosely picked up by Jordan Ayew (circled below).

The Luton defender drills home and they are on their way to a crucial victory.

There will be plenty more of this to come for Luton’s opponents this season – and Manchester City are up next.

You’ve been warned, Pep.