Who are the best Premier League penalty takers in the Premier League? We look at which players could best handle the pressure of taking a spot-kick, while also reflecting on those who weren’t so successful.
- Best Premier League Penalty Takers
- Cole Palmer: 100% scored (12/12)
- Yaya Touré: 100% scored (11/11)
- Raúl Jiménez: 100% scored (10/10)
- Matthew Le Tissier: 96.2% scored (25/26)
- Danny Murphy: 94.7% scored (18/19)
- Callum Wilson: 94.1% scored (16/17)
- James Beattie: 94.1% scored (16/17)
- Julian Dicks: 93.8% scored (15/16)
- Thierry Henry: 92.0% scored (23/25)
- Ivan Toney: 91.7% scored (11/12)
- Bukayo Saka: 91.7% scored (11/12)
- Leighton Baines: 90.9% scored (20/22)
- Danny Ings: 90.9% scored (10/11)
- Gary Speed: 90.9% scored (10/11)
- Frank Leboeuf: 90.9% scored (10/11)
- Peter Beardsley: 90.0% scored (18/20)
- Alexis Mac Allister: 90.0% scored (9/10)
- Mikel Arteta: 89.5% scored (17/19)
- Eden Hazard: 89.5% scored (17/19)
- James Milner: 89.5% scored (17/19)
- Harry Kane: 89.2% scored (33/37)
- Erling Haaland: 88.2% scored (15/17)
- Paolo Di Canio: 88.2% scored (15/17)
The accolade for the most penalties taken with a 100% success rate was, until the 2024-25 season, held solely by former Manchester City midfielder Yaya Touré. The Ivorian star might have lost his cool about not being given a birthday cake for his 31st birthday, but he certainly kept a cool temperament from the penalty spot.
He took 11 penalties in the Premier League and scored with every single one of them. Seven of Touré’s 11 Premier League penalties turned out to be the winning goal in the game, while five put his Manchester City team into the lead.
But Chelsea star Cole Palmer has now gone ahead of Touré on the list. His two successful penalties in December 2024 against Tottenham Hotspur mean that he’s scored all 12 penalties that he’s taken in Premier League history.
A couple of months later, Fulham forward Raúl Jiménez joined Palmer and Touré with a 100% success rate from 10 penalties after he scored with both of his spot-kicks in a January 2025 draw with Ipswich.
Ivan Toney had scored all 10 of the penalties that he’d taken by the point of March 2023, and had the chance to equal Touré’s record a month later. However, he finally missed one with his 11th attempt in the competition during a home defeat to Newcastle United on 8 April 2023. He did go on to score a penalty in the same game, later in the first half, but it was in vain as they lost 2-1. And crucially, his 100% record was gone.
The players with the next most penalties and a 100% conversion rate are Bryan Mbeumo and Dimitar Berbatov (both nine from nine) and Rúben Neves (eight from eight).
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Thierry Henry never saw a Premier League penalty saved, but he still missed two of his 25 taken in the competition. Weirdly both of his penalty misses came via hitting the post against two of the only three Finnish goalkeepers to play in the Premier League (Jussi Jääskeläinen and Antti Niemi). Finish? He could. Finnish? He could not.
Alexis Mac Allister‘s penalty for Liverpool against Man City at Anfield on 10 March 2024 was his ninth converted of 10 taken (90% success rate) – his only miss came for Brighton against Wolves in April 2022. He went on to score another penalty taken in this game, however.
A few current Premier League stars are just outside the >90% gang for penalty success. Evergreen James Milner has scored 89.5% of his Premier League penalties (17/19), Man City goal machine Erling Haaland is at 88.2% (15/17), while Arsenal midfielder Jorginho has converted 19 of 22 (86.4%). Man Utd’s designated penalty taker Bruno Fernandes has scored 22 of the 26 that he’s taken in the Premier League (84%), while Mohamed Salah’s conversion rate from the spot is 83.3% in the competition (30/36) – just ahead of Jamie Vardy (81.8% – 27/33) and Marcus Rashford (80% – 8/10) in terms of conversion rate.
Harry Kane has moved on to Bayern Munich and may never take another penalty in the Premier League. His record in the English top flight currently stands at 89.2% scored (33/37).
Unsurprisingly, Premier League record goalscorer Alan Shearer is the player with the most penalty goals in the competition (56), having also taken the most in the Premier League (67). Frank Lampard (43), Harry Kane (33), Steven Gerrard (32), Mohamed Salah (29), Mark Noble (28), Sergio Agüero (27) and Jamie Vardy (27) follow Shearer in the Premier League penalty goal rankings. Raheem Sterling (26) has won the most penalties in Premier League history
Only three players have missed at least 10 penalties in the Premier League: Alan Shearer (11), Wayne Rooney (11) and Teddy Sheringham (10).
