Welcome to The Radar, a Sky Sports column in which Nick Wright uses a blend of data and opinion to shed light on need-to-know Premier League stories. In the opening edition of the season:

🔺 Man Utd's woes defending corners
🔺 Ampadu's long throws getting longer
🔺 A player to watch this weekend

Carrick has set-piece problem

Michael Carrick bristled at the suggestion that Manchester United's defeat to Hull was down to a lack of passion and made the point that both goals came from set-pieces. It wasn't the first time, though, that defending dead balls has been a problem.

Hull's first goal, a rebound buried at close range by Semi Ajayi, was the 12th Manchester United have conceded from a corner since the start of last season. It is the joint-highest total of any current Premier League side in that timeframe along with Leeds.

Ajayi's opener was of course compounded by Nobel Mendy scoring Hull's second from a free-kick and followed corner goals conceded by Manchester United against Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, Brentford and Nottingham Forest in the final two months of last season.

Unlike against Hull, those goals last season didn't matter. Manchester United ended up winning all four games on the way to their third-placed Premier League finish. But watching the clips back, it is striking just how easy they made it for their opponents.

Like Ajayi, who was able to find space as Harry Maguire inexplicably held his own team-mate Noussair Mazraoui, all three of Maxence Lacroix, Ross Barkley and Morato were unchallenged when scoring their goals for Palace, Aston Villa and Forest respectively.

This frailty when defending corners, and set-pieces generally, was noted by Hull's head coach Sergej Jakirovic, who spoke about making plans to exploit the weakness with the help of his assistant and video analyst in his press conference after the game.

Carrick can, in his defence, point to evidence of overall defensive improvement since his appointment in January. Manchester United had conceded 31 goals in 21 Premier League games before his arrival last season and have only conceded 20 in 18 since.

The fact they have the third-highest percentage of goals conceded from set-pieces in the Premier League since his first game in charge, though, underlines the extent of the issue.

It should be noted that, on the flip side, Manchester United enjoyed considerable success from attacking set-pieces last term. Their total of 26 set-piece goals scored put them second only to champions Arsenal among Premier League sides.

But until they can eliminate their issues in their own box, when the corners and free-kicks are flying in, they risk a repeat of their implosion against Hull. Ipswich, visitors to Old Trafford on Sunday, live on Sky Sports, will aim to be the next opponent to profit.

Ampadu matching Kayode?

In a summer of high-profile midfield moves by the Premier League's elite clubs, Leeds may feel they pulled off something of a coup by tying Ethan Ampadu to a new contract in June. Their captain, whose deal runs until 2030, continues to excel under Daniel Farke.

Ampadu, rated as an outstanding leader by his manager, and described by Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher as one of his favourite midfielders, offers plenty on and off the ball in the No 6 role, operating as both a deep-lying playmaker and a destroyer.

But his most crucial asset might be his long throw.

His total of 139 long throws into the box since the start of last term puts him behind only Michael Kayode, who he faces live on Sky Sports on Sunday. But he is ahead of the Brentford man for shots from long throws, on 53, and level with him for goals, on five.

Ampadu produced another long throw leading to a goal in Tuesday's Carabao Cup win over Nottingham Forest at the City Ground. It was not his best effort, in truth. The ball followed a looping trajectory towards the near post after slipping out of his hands.

But after Forest failed to clear their lines and the ball ended up being bundled home by James Justin, Ampadu enjoyed turning towards the home fans who had mocked him in celebration.

Ampadu recalls getting stick from his own fans when he began taking them early last season. He said in February: "I got battered a little bit by Leeds fans, saying it wasn't actually that long, which was true, sometimes it's not great. But it's getting longer."

Speaking more recently, after two of Ampadu's throws led to goals against Liverpool in pre-season, his team-mate Brenden Aaronson noted the improvement, describing his long throw as "unbelievable" and adding: "Ethan came back and started throwing it about 20 yards further and 20 yards harder."

Aaronson was of course exaggerating. But the data proves practice is paying off for Ampadu. The graph above shows a steady increase in his average throw distance since February. It now stands at 32 metres, up from around 28m when he started taking them, meaning he is hitting similar distances to fellow specialist Kayode.

Leeds will hope to continue feeling the benefits as one of the defining tactical trends of last season seemingly continues. There were 33 long throws in the opening round of fixtures, roughly in line with last season's record average of 3.9 per game.

Expect a lot more of them at Elland Road on Sunday.

Player Radar: Who else to keep an eye on

Gonzalo Garcia followed up a poacher's finish against Chelsea on his debut with a superb solo goal in Fulham's Carabao Cup win over AFC Wimbledon. The striker, a £34m signing from Real Madrid, will hope to cause problems for Sunderland on Sunday too.

Live Radar: What's on Sky this weekend?

Five Premier League games will be shown live on Sky Sports this weekend, starting with Crystal Palace vs Man City on Friday night.

Saturday's action sees Tottenham host Newcastle, before a packed Sunday schedule. Chelsea take on Brighton and Leeds welcome Brentford in the 2pm games, while Sunderland face Fulham in the other simultaneous kick-off, live on Sky Sports+.

Man Utd round off Sunday's action against Ipswich at Old Trafford.

There is also a Monday Night Football clash to look forward to, with Aston Villa hosting Arsenal at Villa Park on August 31.