Are Süper Lig Corners Becoming More Dangerous? Volume Is Flat, Quality Is Up 12%

The number of corners in the Süper Lig has barely changed. The value being generated from them has.

StatsLook’s Data Journalism Team analysed the corner profiles of all 18 Süper Lig teams through the first six rounds of the 2026/27 season, using the full 2025/26 campaign as a historical benchmark.

Last season, Süper Lig teams averaged 4.72 corners per match. Through the opening six rounds of 2026/27, that figure stands at 4.70.

In other words, there has been almost no change in volume.

Corner xG per match, however, has risen from 0.162 to 0.181. More importantly, the average value of an individual corner has increased from 0.0343 xG to 0.0384 xG.

That is an increase of roughly 12%.

The early-season picture is therefore not one of teams simply winning more corners. They are currently producing more goal threat from almost exactly the same number of opportunities.

Corner Volume Is Flat, but the Value of Each Corner Has Increased

The contrast between volume and efficiency is the central feature of the early-season numbers.

Corners per match are down by less than half of one percent compared with the 2025/26 full-season benchmark. Corner xG per match, meanwhile, is around 12% higher, while xG generated per corner has increased by a similar amount.

Corners have also become slightly more prominent within overall attacking output. Corner xG accounted for 12.33% of total xG last season and currently represents 12.84%.

The broader set-piece picture points in the same direction. Set-piece xG accounted for 29.66% of total attacking xG in 2025/26. Through the opening six rounds of this season, that share stands at 32.11%.

These are still early-season numbers, but the distinction matters. The increase is not being driven by teams simply accumulating more corners. It is coming from the amount of threat generated when those corners are taken.

At team level, however, there is no single route to that output.

Galatasaray Have Increased Both Volume and Quality

Galatasaray provide one of the clearest examples of a team improving both sides of the equation.

They averaged 5.50 corners per match in 2025/26 and generated 0.25 corner xG per game. Through the first six rounds of this season, their corner volume has risen to 7.00 per match and their corner xG to 0.34.

Their efficiency has held up despite the higher volume.

Galatasaray generated 0.0455 xG per corner last season. That figure has increased to 0.0486 in 2026/27.

They therefore have not simply created more total corner threat because they are taking more of them. The average value of each corner has also improved.

At 0.34 corner xG per match, Galatasaray currently lead the league, while their xG-per-corner figure also places them among the most efficient teams.

It is the profile every set-piece attack would want: high volume without sacrificing quality.

Fenerbahçe Are Producing More Value from Almost the Same Number of Corners

Fenerbahçe offer a different case.

Their corner volume has barely moved. They averaged 6.91 corners per match last season and are at 6.83 in the opening six rounds of 2026/27.

Their efficiency, though, has changed substantially.

Fenerbahçe's xG per corner has risen from 0.0275 to 0.0395, an increase of roughly 44%.

Corner xG per match has consequently climbed from 0.19 to 0.27 despite there being virtually no increase in the number of corners taken.

If the league-wide story is about extracting more value from the same volume, Fenerbahçe are one of the clearest team-level examples.

Beşiktaş Are Winning Corners at an Extraordinary Rate

Beşiktaş sit at the opposite end of the volume spectrum.

Their corners per match have increased from 5.47 last season to 8.33 in the opening six rounds of 2026/27, a rise of more than 50%.

That makes Beşiktaş comfortably the highest-volume corner team in the league.

Their corner xG per match has also increased, from 0.16 to 0.29.

But looking only at total corner xG would miss an important part of their profile.

Beşiktaş are currently producing 0.0348 xG per corner, below the league's early-season average of 0.0384.

Their overall threat is therefore being driven primarily by the sheer number of corners they generate rather than elite efficiency from each individual delivery.

That distinction is important. A team can be dangerous from corners because it creates exceptional opportunities, because it takes an enormous number of them, or because it does both.

Beşiktaş currently fall much closer to the second category.

Konyaspor Show Why Corner Count Alone Can Be Misleading

Konyaspor represent almost the reverse profile.

They average only 2.50 corners per match, placing them among the lowest-volume teams in the league.

Yet those corners have generated 0.056 xG each — currently the highest figure in the Süper Lig.

Their total corner xG remains relatively modest at 0.14 per match because they simply do not win enough corners to accumulate a large overall total.

But on a per-corner basis, no team has produced more value.

That is exactly why total corner counts can be misleading.

A side taking eight corners is not automatically a better set-piece attacking team than one taking four. Volume tells us how often the opportunity occurs. xG per corner tells us what teams do with it.

Başakşehir, at 0.0554 xG per corner, Amed SK at 0.0531, Gençlerbirliği at 0.0489 and Galatasaray at 0.0486 are also among the league's most efficient early-season corner teams.

Trabzonspor Are Taking More Corners but Producing Less Threat

Trabzonspor provide perhaps the clearest warning against judging corner performance by volume alone.

They averaged 4.62 corners per game last season and produced 0.0541 xG from each one.

Their corner volume has increased to 5.67 per match this season.

Their efficiency has moved sharply in the opposite direction.

Trabzonspor are currently generating just 0.0212 xG per corner, a decline of roughly 61% from their 2025/26 level.

Their total corner xG per match has consequently fallen from 0.25 to 0.12 despite them taking more corners.

More opportunities have not translated into more threat.

In fact, Trabzonspor are currently generating considerably less value from a larger number of set-piece situations.

Four Different Corner Profiles Are Emerging

The early-season Süper Lig average stands at approximately 4.70 corners per match and 0.0384 xG per corner.

Using those two figures as reference points reveals four distinct attacking profiles.

Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe, Göztepe and Rizespor combine above-average corner volume with above-average quality.

Beşiktaş, Alanyaspor and Trabzonspor are generating high corner volume but remain below the league average in xG per corner.

At the other end of the spectrum, teams including Konyaspor, Başakşehir, Amed SK and Gençlerbirliği are producing high-value corners despite relatively modest volume.

The distinction matters because “good at corners” is not a single characteristic.

Some teams repeatedly force opponents into corner situations. Others create unusually dangerous chances when those situations occur. The strongest profiles are capable of combining both.

Set Pieces Are Also Accounting for a Larger Share of Attacking Output

The shift extends beyond corners alone.

Corner xG represented 12.33% of total Süper Lig xG across the 2025/26 season. That share stands at 12.84% through six rounds of 2026/27.

The contribution from all set pieces has increased more clearly, from 29.66% of total xG last season to 32.11% so far this campaign.

That does not establish that the league has undergone a permanent tactical change. Six rounds remain a small sample, and early-season set-piece performance can move quickly.

It does, however, reinforce the main signal in the data.

Dead-ball situations are currently accounting for a slightly larger part of the league's attacking output, while the average corner is producing more expected-goal value than the 2025/26 full-season benchmark.

Corners Look More Dangerous, but It Is Too Early to Call It a New Normal

The early-season evidence is striking because the number of corners has effectively stayed unchanged.

If corner volume had increased significantly, higher total corner xG would be relatively easy to explain.

That is not what has happened.

Süper Lig teams are currently taking around 4.7 corners per match, almost exactly the same level as last season, but are producing roughly 12% more xG from each one.

Whether that remains true over a full campaign is a different question.

The 2025/26 figures represent an entire 34-match season, while the current data covers only the opening six rounds. The composition of the league has also changed, so this should not be treated as a like-for-like seasonal comparison.

The 2025/26 season is best understood as a benchmark rather than a directly comparable period.

For now, though, the signal is clear:

Süper Lig teams are not taking more corners. They are getting more value from them.

And as the season develops, xG per corner may tell us far more about set-piece performance than the corner count itself.

Methodology and Data Notes

This analysis uses StatsLook team data from the 2025/26 and 2026/27 Süper Lig seasons.

The 2025/26 dataset represents the full 34-match campaign, while the 2026/27 sample covers the opening six matches for each of the league's 18 teams.

“xG per corner” is calculated by dividing average corner xG per match by average corners per match.

League-wide rates are calculated using the underlying total corner and corner-xG volumes rather than simply averaging team-level ratios.

Because the two datasets cover different sample sizes and the league composition is not identical, the 2025/26 season is used as a historical benchmark rather than a directly matched six-round comparison.

The 2026/27 figures should therefore be interpreted as an early-season snapshot rather than evidence of a confirmed long-term trend.