The number of penalties won by each Premier League club in 2020
By Tom Gott
Ah, penalties.
2020 saw players punished for having arms, breathing too hard and refusing to take a ball square in the face, and that meant we got a whole lot of penalties in the Premier League, some clubs more than others.
With all the conspiracy theories flying around of late, let's see how many penalties each team who played in the Premier League in 2020 were actually awarded.
Spolier alert: Manchester United weren't top...
23. West Bromwich Albion - 0 (16 games)
Kicking things off is newly promoted West Brom, who weren't given a single penalty during their 16 Premier League games in 2020.
Their final penalty of the calendar year came in July, when Charlie Austin converted from the spot in a 3-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship.
22. Leeds United - 2 (16 games)
Unlike West Brom, Leeds did get in on all the penalty fun in 2020.
They managed two penalties in the first half of their first year back in the top flight, with both Mateusz Klich and Patrick Bamford finding the back of the net for Marcelo Bielsa's side.
21. Norwich City - 2 (18 games)
Norwich's stay in the top flight was short but sweet.
Their only penalties came back in January, when Finnish striker Teemu Pukki converted two penalties in the space of four days back.
However, since returning to the Championship, they earned seven penalties in just 22 games.
20. Burnley - 2
Burnley didn't actually get a single penalty in the second half of 2020, instead saving their 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 followed suit against Wolves five months later.
19. Crystal Palace - 2
With walking penalty-winner Wilfried Zaha in the team, you'd expect Crystal Palace to have won more than just two.
It's Zaha who took over penalty duty from Luka Milivojevic, who is one of the Premier League's finest from dead balls, but the Ivorian managed to score both his efforts.
18. Bournemouth - 3 (18 games)
Towards the end of their stay in the Premier League, Bournemouth were awarded three penalties.
Josh King scored two and Junior Stanislas converted the other, and it's Stanislas who assumed dead-ball duties for the return to the Championship, scoring twice in four days in November.
17. Everton - 3
Everton had to wait until July for their first penalty of 2020, but Gylfi Sigurdsson made the most of it by netting the winning goal against Leicester.
Richarlison and Sigurdsson netted the only other two penalties in September and December, and both ended up being deciding goals in victories as well.
16. Sheffield United - 3
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 equaliser against Fulham in October got the Blades off the mark, but they had to wait until December for their second point. Yikes.
15. West Ham United - 3
West Ham won three penalties in 2020, and two of them came back in January.
The Hammers' only other effort from the spot came courtesy of Michail Antonio, who put his side ahead in a 1-1 draw with Manchester United in July.
14. Wolverhampton Wanderers - 3
Wolves did a surprisingly good job of rationing their penalties across 2020.
Raul Jimenez took the first in January and followed that up in July, but Nuno Espirito Santo's side had to wait until December for their next effort from the spot.
13. Watford - 4 (18 games)
Watford were no stranger to penalties in 2020. Across their 18 games in the Premier League, they managed no less than four penalties - more than six teams managed in twice as many games.
They even managed five in the Championship across November and December, so the Hornets have obviously been keeping busy.
12. Arsenal - 4
Mikel Arteta's Arsenal haven't won many penalties, which is part of the reason for their struggles in front of goal.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's goal in July's win 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 got themselves on the score sheet.
11. Tottenham Hotspur - 4
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 out injured, but the Englishman returned after lockdown to fire home two of his own.
10. Fulham - 5 (15 games)
Fulham played just 15 Premier League games in 2020, yet still managed to come away with five penalties.
Three of them actually ended up missing, with Ademola Lookman and Ivan Cavaleiro's spectacular misses from the spot in November still fresh in the memory.
9. Aston Villa - 5
Surprisingly, Jack Grealish wasn't involved in each of Aston Villa's five penalty calls in 2020.
The England international did win penalties against West Brom and Southampton, but the likes of Trezeguet and John McGinn chipped in to win the rest.
8. Newcastle United - 5
Callum Wilson has been feasting from the spot since joining Newcastle in the summer.
He bagged four penalties for the Magpies in 2020, following on from Matt Richie's missed effort in a 1-0 win over Southampton back in March.
7. Southampton - 5
After missing their first two penalties of 2020, Southampton (or rather Danny Ings) made no mistake with the final three.
One of those who missed was James Ward-Prowse, who clearly finds burying 25-yard worldies easier than slotting him from the penalty spot.
6. Brighton - 6
We're getting to the business end of these rankings. Next up, surprisingly, is Brighton.
Graham Potter's side have been impressive when it comes to winning penalties in 2020/21, with five of their six efforts coming in the first half of that campaign.
Two came in the same game against Liverpool in November, but unlike Neal Maupay, Pascal Gross actually managed to find the back of the net.
5. Liverpool - 6
Liverpool had six penalties in the Premier League, and all six of them were scored by Mohamed Salah.
To add to all the fun, the Egyptian even bagged a penalty in October's 2-0 win over Midtjylland, ensuring that 2020 is the second consecutive calendar year in which Salah scored every penalty he took.
4. Chelsea - 10
A huge jump up to Chelsea in fourth here. The Blues won ten penalties in 2020, but the second half of the year was far 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 those two penalties and even missed another in the Champions League. He's missed four penalties in his entire career, and three of them came in the final third of 2020.
3. Manchester City - 10
Nobody missed more Premier League penalties than Manchester City in 2020.
They started the year missing three in a row (with three different takers), before a run of three consecutive goals was ended by a Raheem Sterling miss in July.
After sharing responsibility for the first half of the year, Kevin De Bruyne took control for 2020/21, but missed one of his three efforts. Ten penalties, five misses. Ooof.
2. Manchester United - 11
Despite their reputation as penalty merchants, Manchester United surprisingly only come in second on the list.
Believe it or not, their 11 penalties won is actually fewer than 2019, in which United stepped up to the spot 14 times in the Premier League.
2019 also saw United take 19 penalties in all competitions, but the 21 they won in 2020 manages to trump that.
Penchester Penited etc etc etc...
1. Leicester City - 13
Quietly sitting pretty at the top of the standings are Leicester City, who ended 2020 having taken no less than 13 penalties - ten of which came in 2020/21.
Between September and the end of the year, Jamie Vardy scored six penalties and missed another, Youri Tielemans bagged two and Kelechi Iheanacho missed one of his own.
That's a massive jump up from the first half of the year, in which Leicester only stepped up to the spot three times.