This Premier League season, The Athletic will explore various dimensions within the expected goals (xG) metric to unearth some key trends. This week it’s prowess from long distance shots.Across the first three matchdays of the 2026-27 season, teams have attempted 186 shots from outside the box (excluding blocks). That is the most in the first three games of a season since 2019-20 (192). It accounts for 35 per cent of total shots taken, also the highest since the 37 per cent recorded seven years ago.That prompted us to look at the xG generated and goals scored from shots outside the box by the 20 current Premier League teams since the start of last season.Some teams have made a habit out of scoring screamers; others, not so much. Confirmation bias means some fans can place a bit too much importance on long-range shooting, but in an era of compact defending and low blocks, it will always have its place.No team across the last eight completed Premier League seasons overperformed their xG with shots from outside the box more than Aston Villa did in 2025-26. Unai Emery’s side scored 15 times from just 6.8xG, with John McGinn scoring four and Emiliano Buendia and Morgan Rogers scoring three each.Villa attempted 177 shots from range last season, only the fifth most, but got 33 per cent of those on target, the best mark in the league. Impressively, only two of the goals came from Opta-defined clear shots (that is with one or zero players in the way).All of that suggests that Villa hit upon the perfect blend of creating quality long-range shots plus some luck. That is yet to come to pass this season, with Villa attempting 11 shots from distance but getting none of them on target. Regression can be mean.Bournemouth led the league last season for shots from distance with 211 and xG from these shots with 8.6, scoring 12 times.Three of those goals, including Antoine Semenyo’s equaliser in their season opener at Liverpool and Tyler Adams’ goal from near the halfway line against Sunderland, came from fast breaks. Bournemouth were quick to shoot from distance in transition against retreating defences, with no team recording more than their 15 shots from outside the box from fast breaks.Early in Marco Rose’s reign, Bournemouth have attempted 13 shots from distance in three matches. They are yet to score but have directed two of those shots on target.Andoni Iraola, meanwhile, has transplanted that strategy to Liverpool, whose 21 shots from outside the box in three matches is second in the league behind Manchester United. Cody Gakpo has scored their only goal from these shots in their opener against Newcastle United.Long-range strikes have accounted for 42 per cent of Liverpool’s total shots. While it is early, it does mark a slight departure from Arne Slot’s time in charge, with only 30 per cent of Liverpool’s shots coming from range across 2023-24 and 2024-25.They still scored 13 times from outside the box in that stretch, with Dominik Szoboszlai recording five of those strikes. Szoboszlai, who led the league with 52 shots from distance in 2025-26, has already attempted eight in three matches this season, getting three of those on target.Cody Gakpo scores the first long-range Premier League goal of the Iraola era at Liverpool (George Wood/Getty Images)Manchester United were level with Villa for shots on target from outside the box in 2025-26 with 58, scoring nine goals. They led the league in first-time shots from outside the box with 65, the fifth most by a team in a single season since 2018-19.Cutbacks and layoffs to the edge of the area were a useful avenue for United under Michael Carrick due to the fluidity of their front line and the late runs forward from midfield. They were often well positioned to pick up clearances to the edge of the area from crosses too.They lead the league again after three games in 2026-27 for shots from outside the box (28) and are level with Brighton & Hove Albion for the number of first-time efforts (nine).Brighton’s nine first-time attempts have come from just 17 total shots from outside the box. Seven of those nine came against a Leeds United team that protected the box, especially after going 1-0 up, which meant Brighton could either shoot or lay off clearances to the edge of the area.They had one such attempt each against Chelsea and 10-man Villa and, in both instances, the opposition had seven players inside the box, leaving Brighton players open at the edge of the area.The Premier League’s other data darlings Brentford have performed the worst with shots from outside the box since last season, scoring twice from 6.0xG.Their preference for taking the best-quality shots is well known. Brentford teams from 2024-25 and 2025-26 rank first and second respectively for percentage of shots from inside the box since 2018-19. Since the start of last season, no team has recorded a higher xG per long-range shot than their 0.05.