Three players with 100% records
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Holding your nerve from 12 yards out, with a stadium full of thousands of expectant fans all watching your single kick of the ball, can test even the best of footballers. It takes real bravery to step up and tuck away a penalty at the top level. Some of the very best players the game has ever seen have struggled to convert spot-kicks. Even the great Lionel Messi missed 31 penalties across his career. This season, there have already been 49 penalties awarded in the Premier League, with 18 of the 20 teams receiving at least one spot-kick.
Converting penalties can not only hinge the outcome of a game, but can go on to change a team’s season. So which players can be relied upon the most from 12 yards out? Here at Transfermarkt, we have calculated the players with the best penalty conversion rates in Premier League history since the league’s inception in 1992/93. We have only included players with 10+ penalties taken in the English top-flight. Three players have still managed a 100% conversion rate.
Best penalty takers in Premier League history
Leading the way is none other than Cole Palmer, or as he is affectionately known by the Chelsea faithful ‘Cold Palmer’. The young Englishman has already taken 12 penalties for the Blues and has scored every single one of them. In second place with all of his 11 spot-kicks scored is Manchester City legend Yaya Touré. The only other player with a 100% conversion rate is current Fulham striker Raúl Jiménez, with the Mexican scoring all 10 of his Premier League penalties. Next up with a conversion rate of 96.2% is Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier, scoring 25 of his 26 penalties.
In fifth place is former Liverpool and Fulham midfielder Danny Murphy with a conversion rate of 94.7% from his 19 penalties. Two players tie sixth place with 94.1% of their 17 penalties scored – Newcastle striker Callum Wilson and former Saints striker James Beattie. In eighth is West Ham cult hero Julian Dicks, with the defender boasting a 93.8% conversion rate from his 16 penalties taken. Thierry Henry takes ninth position, having scored 23 of his 25 Premier League penalties, equating to a 92% conversion rate. Bukayo Saka and Ivan Toney tie in tenth, each having scored 91.7% of their 12 spot-kicks.
