Ah, penalties.
2020 saw players punished for having arms around, breathing too hard and refusing to take a square ball in the face, which meant we had a lot of penalties in the Premier League, some clubs more than others.
With all the conspiracy theories floating around lately, let’s see how many penalties each team that played in the Premier League in 2020 has actually been awarded.
Spolier alert: Manchester United was not at the top …
Newly promoted West Brom has not been penalized in their 16 Premier League games in 2020.
Their last penalty of the calendar year came in July, when Charlie Austin converted in a 3-0 win over Sheffield on Wednesday in the Championship.
Unlike West Brom, Leeds have been part of all the penalty fun in 2020.
They managed two penalties in the first half of their first year back in the top flight, with Mateusz Klich and Patrick Bamford finding the back of the net for Marcelo Bielsa’s side.
Norwich’s stay in the elite was short but pleasant.
Their only penalties returned in January, when Finnish forward Teemu Pukki converted two penalties in the space of four days.
However, since their return to the championship, they have suffered seven penalties in just 22 games.
Burnley didn’t actually get a single penalty in the second half of 2020, instead saving his only two efforts for the end of the 2019/20 season.
Jay Rodriguez found the back of the net in February against Bournemouth, before Chris Wood did the same against Wolves five months later.
With Wilfried Zaha winning a penalty on foot, Crystal Palace is expected to have won more than two.
It was Zaha who took over the penalty duty from Luka Milivojevic, who is one of the Premier League’s best on dead balls, but the Ivorian managed to score both of his efforts.
Towards the end of their stay in the Premier League, Bournemouth received three penalties.
Josh King scored two and Junior Stanislas converted the other, and it was Stanislas who took on the deadball duties for the return to the championship, scoring twice in four days in November.
Everton had to wait until July for their first penalty of 2020, but Gylfi Sigurdsson took the opportunity to score the game-winning goal against Leicester.
Richarlison and Sigurdsson scored the only two other penalties in September and December, and both ended up being game-winning goals.
Few teams have penalties to thank more than Sheffield United, who needed a penalty to pick up one of their two points in the first half of the 2020/21 season.
Billy Sharp’s late equalizer against Fulham in October eluded the Blades, but they had to wait until December for their second point. Yikes.
West Ham won three penalties in 2020, and two of them returned in January.
The Hammers’ only other effort on the spot came from Michail Antonio, who put his side in the lead in a 1-1 draw with Manchester United in July.
Wolves have done a surprisingly good job rationing their penalties in 2020.
Raul Jimenez won the first in January and followed it in July, but Nuno Espirito Santo’s side had to wait until December for their next effort on the spot.
Watford was no stranger to penalties in 2020. In their 18 Premier League games, they have managed no less than four penalties – more than six teams have succeeded in twice as many games.
They even managed five in the Championship in November and December, so the Hornets have obviously been busy.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal didn’t win many penalties, which partly explains their struggles in front of goal.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s goal in July’s victory over Watford was the first of the year, and the other three penalties all came in November or December. Aubameyang, Nicolas Pepe and Alexandre Lacazette all registered on the scoresheet.
Spurs managed two penalties in the first half of 2020 and two penalties in the second.
Son Heung-min and Dele Alli shared the responsibilities when Harry Kane was injured, but the Englishman returned after the lockdown to fire two of his own.
Fulham has only made 15 Premier League appearances in 2020, but still managed to get away with five penalties.
Three of them were in fact missing, the spectacular failures of Ademola Lookman and Ivan Cavaleiro on the spot in November still fresh in memory.
Surprisingly, Jack Grealish was not involved in each of Aston Villa’s five penalty appeals in 2020.
The England international won penalties against West Brom and Southampton, but players like Trezeguet and John McGinn contributed to win the rest.
Callum Wilson has feasted on the place since arriving at Newcastle this summer.
He pocketed four penalties for the Magpies in 2020, following Matt Richie’s failed effort in a 1-0 win over Southampton in March.
After missing his first two penalties of 2020, Southampton (or rather Danny Ings) was not wrong with the last three.
One of those who missed was James Ward-Prowse, who clearly finds it easier to bury 25-yard worlds than to spot him from the penalty spot.
We are coming to the commercial end of these rankings. The next stop, surprisingly, is Brighton.
Graham Potter’s side have been impressive in terms of winning penalties in 2020/21, with five of their six efforts in the first half of this campaign.
Two came in the same game against Liverpool in November, but unlike Neal Maupay, Pascal Gross managed to find the back of the net.
Liverpool have had six penalties in the Premier League, and all six have been scored by Mohamed Salah.
To add to all the fun, the Egyptian even conceded a penalty in October’s 2-0 victory over Midtjylland, ensuring that 2020 is the second consecutive calendar year in which Salah has scored every penalty he has scored. taken.
A huge jump to Chelsea in fourth place here. Les Bleus won ten penalties in 2020, but the second half of the year was a lot less kind to them than the first.
Of the five penalties won between January and July, Chelsea scored all five (Jorginho had two and Willian three), but they only went three for five in the second half of the year.
Jorginho missed both of those penalties and even missed another in the Champions League. He’s missed four penalties in his career, and three of them came in the last third of 2020.
No one has missed more Premier League penalties than Manchester City in 2020.
They started the year missing three goals in a row (with three different takers), before a three-game winning streak ended with a Raheem Sterling failure in July.
After sharing responsibility for the first half of the year, Kevin De Bruyne took the lead for 2020/21, but missed one of his three efforts. Ten penalties, five misses. Ooof.
Despite their reputation as penalty dealers, Manchester United surprisingly comes second on the list.
Believe it or not, their 11 penalties earned are actually less than 2019, where United have climbed 14 times in the Premier League instead.
2019 also saw United take 19 penalties in all competitions, but the 21 they won in 2020 manage to win.
Penchester Penited etc etc etc …
Leicester City, who finished 2020 after taking no less than 13 penalties, including ten in 2020/21, sit quietly at the top of the table.
Between September and the end of the year, Jamie Vardy scored six penalties and missed another, Youri Tielemans put in two and Kelechi Iheanacho missed one of his.
It’s a huge leap forward from the first half of the year, in which Leicester have only come back to the top three times.
For more thanTom gott, follow it onTwitter!
