Statistics

Swansea most ruthless from penalty spot

21 Mar 2018

Jordan Ayew's latest strike maintains his side's 95 per cent success rate, but which other clubs excel from 12 yards?

This week we are looking at the art of penalty taking in the Premier League.

Super Swansea in top spot

Swansea City may be in the bottom half of the Premier League table but they are top of the rankings when it comes to converting penalties.

Jordan Ayew’s successful spot-kick in the 4-1 home win over West Ham United on 3 March continued the club’s impressive strike-rate from 12 yards.

Swansea have been awarded 21 PL penalties and have scored from 20 of them, a success rate of 95 per cent.

Southampton have been similarly ruthless. They have found the net with 62 of their 69 spot-kicks, a rate of 90 per cent.

Watford are third. The Hornets have registered with 17 of their 19 attempts, or 89 per cent.

Huddersfield Town could soon find themselves high up the list. The Terriers have netted both of the two penalties they have been awarded in the competition.

Best penalty success of current PL clubs (min. five pens)

Team	Pens taken	Pens scored	Success rate
Swansea	21	20	95%
Southampton	69	62	90%
Watford	19	17	89%
Burnley	15	13	87%
Chelsea	128	110	86%
West Ham	83	67	81%
Newcastle	115	92	80%
Brighton	5	4	80%
Man City	104	83	80%
Liverpool	147	113	77%
Stoke	43	33	77%
Everton	120	92	77%
Man Utd	129	97	75%
AFC Bournemouth	16	12	75%
Arsenal	136	101	74%
Spurs	117	85	73%
Crystal Palace	52	38	73%
Leicester	54	38	70%
West Brom	41	26	63%

Nottingham Forest are one of five former PL clubs in the all-time top-10 rankings.

Their record of 89 per cent (16 out of 18) is narrowly better than fifth-placed Blackpool’s 88 per cent, while Birmingham City, Hull City and Reading have also scored more than 80 per cent of their PL spot-kicks.