The 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia may be long since over, but one of the trends that emerged at the tournament – scoring via set-pieces – is being continued by Christian Streich's Freiburg side in the Bundesliga this season.

An astonishing 45 per cent of all goals scored in Russia last summer came from a dead-ball situation - defined as a throw-in, corner, free-kick, penalty or goal kick - bringing the importance of such tools into sharper focus for a much wider audience.

Not that Freiburg needed many pointers in that regard anyway. Streich's charges have long been one of the Bundesliga most dangerous sides at set-pieces, with last summer's global showdown only serving to reaffirm their focus on what had previously been – in public at least – an overlooked part of the game.

Watch: Three of Freiburg's goals in their 5-1 win over Augsburg on Matchday 23 derived from dead-balls

It bore fruit for the Black Forest outfit once again on Matchday 25, when Vincenzo Grifo's devilish 80th-minute corner was inadvertently headed into his own net by Hertha Berlin striker Vedad Ibisevic, giving Freiburg a 2-1 victory that moved them 11 points clear of the relegation zone.

"It's nice that [the time we spend training set-pieces] is rewarded," said Freiburg midfielder Mike Frantz afterwards. "They're our strength and we spend a lot of time on them. It's not always a lot of fun."

Perhaps not, but it is certainly effective. That winner against Hertha was the 16th time Freiburg have found the net from a set-piece this season, a tally which represents 44 per cent of all their Bundesliga goals in 2018/19. Both the overall total and the percentage are the highest in Germany's top flight this term. It was a similar situation in 2017/18 too, when Freiburg hit a league-high 18 of their 32 goals (56.3 per cent) from dead-balls.

Oh look, another Freiburg goal from a set-piece: Vincenzo Grifo curls in a free-kick against Augsburg. - imago/Beautiful Sports

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"We always work on set-pieces," Streich once explained. "We make time to do them in training and the amount of time we dedicate to them is quite considerable. When you consider that during a game there can be anywhere between 110 to 130 dead-ball situations – including throw-ins, corners, free-kicks, everything - then you can see how big a part it plays in a football match."

Corners, in particular, seem to be Freiburg's weapon of choice. The winner against Hertha on Saturday was their fifth in 2019 alone and they have found the net from a corner in each of their four home games since the turn of the year.

"Because set-pieces are strategically used by opponents to get forward – as they are by us – then you have to put time into it," Streich added. "We don't train set-pieces 50 per cent of the time. Maybe we will at some point, but we do a considerable amount and we have a strategy in every different situation. We always practice set-pieces, regardless of whether we're playing well or not."

With two wins from their last three matches, Freiburg are on something of a roll at present. Borussia Mönchengladbach, their opponents on Matchday 26, you have been warned!

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