Who are the most proficient penalty takers in the history of the Premier League? We’ll examine players known for their ability to handle the pressure of spot-kicks, as well as those who struggled with penalty conversion in the Premier League.
The Sole Player to Achieve a 100% Penalty Conversion Rate in the Premier League
When it comes to players who have taken at least 10 penalties in the Premier League, the common guess is often Matt Le Tissier. However, this assumption is incorrect.
The distinction of having the highest number of penalties taken with a flawless 100% success rate belongs to Yaya Touré, the former Manchester City midfielder and a dominant force in the league. Despite some off-field incidents, Touré displayed unwavering composure from the penalty spot, converting all 11 of his attempts.
Remarkably, seven of Touré’s 11 Premier League penalties secured victories for his team, while five placed Manchester City in the lead.
There was a player on the cusp of matching Touré’s record in April 2023. Ivan Toney, representing Brentford, had successfully converted all 10 of his Premier League penalties until he missed his 11th during a home match against Newcastle United on April 8, 2023. Despite this setback, he did manage to score another penalty later in the same game, although it couldn’t prevent a 2-1 defeat.
The player with the next highest number of penalties and a perfect conversion rate is Dimitar Berbatov, who successfully converted nine out of nine penalties.
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Matt Le Tissier Wasn’t Infallible and Did Have a Missed Penalty
This isn’t a conspiracy theory. While Matt Le Tissier did convert 25 penalties in the Premier League, there was indeed a moment when he missed from the spot. The man who managed to save a Premier League penalty taken by Le Tissier was Mark Crossley of Nottingham Forest, and this occurred in March 1993.
This saved penalty had significant implications as Nottingham Forest went on to secure a 2-1 away victory that day at The Dell, despite Le Tissier partially making up for his earlier miss by scoring Southampton’s only goal in the 72nd minute.
At the time of this penalty miss, it was only Le Tissier’s third penalty attempt in the Premier League. However, he bounced back impressively, converting his next 23 penalties successfully against opposing goalkeepers.
Interestingly, Le Tissier seemed to hold a special grudge against Nottingham Forest. He made them pay for that saved penalty by scoring his next four penalties against them in the Premier League, including three against his rival, Mark Crossley – more than against any other club in the competition.
The Finest Among the Others
Danny Murphy found the back of the net with 18 out of 19 penalties he took in the Premier League, resulting in an impressive 95% success rate. His only miss occurred during his time at Fulham when they faced Manchester City in April 2008. In this instance, it was goalkeeper Joe Hart who thwarted his perfect record, denying his ninth spot-kick attempt in the competition. However, Murphy rebounded the ball into the net to equalize for Fulham. Ultimately, Fulham secured a vital 3-2 victory, crucial for their battle to stay in the Premier League, which they ultimately won.
Julian Dicks found the back of the net with 94% of his Premier League penalties during the 1995/1996 season, converting 15 out of 16 attempts successfully. Similarly, James Beattie achieved a 94% penalty conversion rate during the 2006/2007 season, scoring with 16 out of 17 penalty kicks, as David Seaman saved his penalty for West Ham against Arsenal in February 1996.
Julian Dicks could take a penalty! pic.twitter.com/RSIG0bY2TW
— 90s Football (@90sfootball) March 4, 2020
Among players who have scored at least 20 goals in the Premier League, only Luka Milivojevic, with an impressive 79%, has a higher proportion of goals coming from penalties, all of which were for Crystal Palace, than Julian Dicks, who had 63% of his goals from penalties.
James Beattie, on the other hand, had a remarkable record of converting penalties, with his only miss occurring while playing for Everton against Charlton Athletic in January 2006. Thomas Myhre’s save at Goodison Park denied him, making this the only penalty he missed in the Premier League when taken within the first 10 minutes of a match (08:09).
Among current Premier League players who have taken at least 10 penalties, Callum Wilson of Newcastle United boasts the best record from the spot, with a 93.3% success rate. He has only missed one of his 15 attempts, which happened against Cardiff City while he was playing for Bournemouth in August 2018, with Neil Etheridge being the goalkeeper responsible for ending Wilson’s 100% record.
Thierry Henry never saw a Premier League penalty saved, but he did miss two of his 25 penalties in the competition. Interestingly, both of these misses were the result of hitting the post and occurred against two of the only three Finnish goalkeepers to play in the Premier League, Jussi Jääskeläinen and Antti Niemi. While Henry could certainly “finish,” he had a tough time against Finnish keepers.
Four players with at least 10 Premier League penalties in their record have a 91% success rate: current Aston Villa striker Danny Ings, Leighton Baines, former Chelsea defender Frank Leboeuf, and the late Gary Speed. Among these, Baines took the most penalties, with 22 attempts, twice as many as Ings, Speed, and Leboeuf (11). His first Premier League penalty miss occurred in October 2014 against Manchester United and David de Gea, ending his streak of scoring his first 14 penalties in the competition.
In the current Premier League, some stars just miss the >90% success rate for penalties. James Milner has an 89.5% conversion rate from the spot (17/19), while Arsenal’s Jorginho has converted 19 of his 22 penalties (86.4%) in the competition. Manchester United’s designated penalty taker, Bruno Fernandes, has scored 15 of the 18 he’s taken in the Premier League (83.3%). Following his miss on Matchday 2 of the 2023-24 campaign against Bournemouth, Mohamed Salah’s conversion rate from the spot has fallen to 80% (20/25).
Harry Kane has moved on to Bayern Munich and is unlikely to take another Premier League penalty. His record stands at a solid 89.2% scored (33/37), and he’s expected to continue his penalty success at his new club in the Bundesliga.
Unusual Penalty Record Insights
As expected, Alan Shearer, the Premier League’s all-time leading goalscorer, holds the record for the most penalty goals in the competition, with an impressive 56 to his name. He also holds the record for the most penalties taken in the Premier League, attempting 67. Following Shearer in the list of Premier League penalty goalscorers are Frank Lampard (43), Harry Kane (33), Steven Gerrard (32), Mark Noble (28), Sergio Agüero (27), and Jamie Vardy (26). Interestingly, Vardy (23) is just one penalty behind Raheem Sterling (24) for the most penalties won in Premier League history.
Remarkably, only three players have missed at least 10 penalties in the Premier League: Alan Shearer (11), Wayne Rooney, England’s all-time leading scorer (11), and Teddy Sheringham (10).
The 2022-23 Premier League season saw Aleksandar Mitrovic miss four out of eight penalties for Fulham, a unique record as no player had ever missed as many as four penalties in a single EPL campaign.
Harry Kane’s standout statistic is that he scored seven of his 33 penalties against Arsenal in the Premier League, making up 21.2% of his penalty goals. This is tied for the highest number of penalties scored against a single opponent in the competition, a record he shares with Alan Shearer, who scored seven against Everton (although he did miss one out of eight).
Despite being a beloved figure at Middlesbrough, Brazilian Juninho had a poor record when it came to penalties. He stands out as one of the least successful penalty takers in Premier League history, having taken four penalties without scoring a single one. Paul Merson (three) and Mike Newell (three) came close to this record.
Jan Mølby, a former Liverpool midfielder, holds the record for the most Premier League goals, with all seven of them coming from penalties. On the flip side, Les Ferdinand scored the most Premier League goals (149) without a single one of them being a penalty.
Three players have accomplished the remarkable feat of netting penalties in the Premier League while representing four different clubs each. These players are Teddy Sheringham, who did it for Spurs, Manchester United, West Ham, and Portsmouth; Darren Bent, who achieved this for Sunderland, Charlton, Aston Villa, and Spurs; and Yakubu, who managed this feat while playing for Middlesbrough, Portsmouth, Blackburn, and Everton.
Finally, a special mention goes to Bobby Zamora and Obafemi Martins. These two players are the only ones to have scored Premier League penalties with both their right and left feet, a testament to their confidence and versatility. Zamora accomplished this with just two penalties, taken 10 months apart, while Martins took four penalties, scoring one and missing one with both his right and left foot, indicating his unique but inconsistent approach.
Who holds the title for the Least Successful Penalty Taker in Premier League History?
Juan Pablo Ángel holds the distinction of being the least successful penalty taker in Premier League history among players who attempted at least 10 penalties in the competition. He managed to score only half of his 10 penalties for Aston Villa between October 2001 and October 2006.
The Colombian striker started well, converting four of his first five penalties, but his performance dipped significantly as he missed four of his final five attempts. A notable moment was when he missed two penalties in the same game against Fulham in February 2005. Aston Villa was leading thanks to Ángel’s 55th-minute goal, but his two penalty misses allowed Fulham to equalize in injury time, with Lee Clark scoring the crucial equalizer.
Ángel is one of just three players to have missed two penalties in a single Premier League match. The others who share this dubious distinction are Darren Bent for Sunderland against Tottenham in April 2010 (missing two out of three taken) and Saido Berahino for West Brom against Watford in April 2016 (missing both penalties attempted).
Steed Malbranque and Dwight Yorke both missed four out of 10 penalties taken in the Premier League, while Kevin Phillips had a 61% success rate, scoring 11 out of 18 penalties. Paul Pogba, during his time with Manchester United, missed four out of 11 penalties in the Premier League before passing the responsibility to either Bruno Fernandes or Cristiano Ronaldo, including a miss against Wolves in August 2019.
Among the 29 players who have taken at least 20 penalties in the Premier League, Michael Owen has the lowest success rate from the spot, converting just 14 of his 21 spot-kicks.
Former Premier League trio Aleksandar Mitrović (8/13 – 61.5%), Wilfried Zaha (7/11 – 63.6%), and Riyad Mahrez (13/19 – 68.4%) all feature in the top 12 for the worst Premier League penalty takers in the history of the competition.
