With Mo Salah gone, Liverpool need to find a new, reliable penalty taker to handle the pressure that comes with the responsibility, and one clear standout has emerged.
Just one of Salah’s many qualities that he brought to Liverpool was his ability to convert from 12 yards.
Excluding shootouts and friendlies, the Egyptian netted 45 times from the spot for Liverpool and missed on 10 occasions, meaning he finished with an 82 percent conversion rate.
His tally of 45 places him second on the list of Liverpool’s all-time scorers from the spot, just behind Steven Gerrard who struck twice more.
Now, with the Egyptian having moved on to Trabzonspor, the Reds must find a new man to assume responsibility for Liverpool’s penalty-taking.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Saturday, August 8, 2026: Liverpool's Alexander Isak celebrates with team-mate Dominik Szoboszlai (R) after scoring the first goal during a pre-season friendly match between Liverpool FC and AS Monaco FC at Anfield. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Saturday, August 8, 2026: Liverpool's Alexander Isak celebrates with team-mate Dominik Szoboszlai (R) after scoring the first goal during a pre-season friendly match between Liverpool FC and AS Monaco FC at Anfield. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Of the current squad, only three have scored a penalty for Liverpool in normal time: Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo.
Mac Allister netted twice for the Reds in the same week back in March 2024, while Gakpo converted against former club PSV in January 2025.
It is Szoboszlai, though, who is the standout candidate.
Liverpool Potential Penalty Takers
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Name Scored Missed Conversion Rate
Isak 19 6 76%
Szoboszlai 18 2 90%
Mac Allister 11 1 92%
Gakpo 9 1 90%
Wirtz 5 2 71%
Araujo 3 2 60%
Van Dijk 1 0 100%
Endo 7 0 100%
* Record for club and country in competitive games. Excludes penalties scored in penalty shootouts
As Liverpool’s specialist from dead balls, Szoboszlai took and scored at San Siro against Inter when Salah was excluded from the squad last season.
The midfielder took one other penalty in Salah’s absence, but missed against Burnley in January’s 1-1 draw at Anfield.
Szoboszlai’s record across his career is excellent, though, having scored 18 and missed just two of his 20 spot-kicks (90% conversion rate).
Mac Allister also boasts a strong record, missing just one of his 12 penalties taken.
The other main contender would be Alexander Isak, but Szoboszlai has a better record than the striker’s 19 scored and six missed (76% conversion rate).
Meanwhile, Gakpo has scored nine of his 10 taken across the course of his career, while Hugo Ekitike has missed three of his five penalties.
Wataru Endo actually has the best conversion rate of anyone in the squad, netting all seven of his penalties taken in Japan.
However, the last of those was more than 11 years ago and the 33-year-old is unlikely to feature often for Andoni Iraola.
Elsewhere, Florian Wirtz has scored five of seven and Ronald Araujo has netted three of five.
Overall, the statistics tell us that Szoboszlai could be the safest bet from the penalty spot, but Mac Allister could be a reliable option, too, if given the opportunity.
Isak will also be keen to take on the mantle as well. However, he has missed almost a quarter of his previous 25 so may have to reply on open play for his goals.
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Iraola, Arteta, Michael Oliver collage
Iraola, Arteta, Michael Oliver collage
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