Stats Analysis: Premier League Penalty Woes - Keepers on Top

In the Premier League this weekend there were two crucial penalties misses, or, if you're of an Arsenal or Sunderland persuasion, crucial penalties saves in huge games for the respective sides. Wojciech Szczesny's double save to deny Dirk Kuyt would eventually help earn Arsenal a win at Anfield, while a Simon Mignolet stop from Demba Ba was enough for 10-man Sunderland to win a point at fierce rivals Newcastle.

The trend of keepers saving penalties, however, is not just restricted to this weekend, as players have been missing spot kicks with alarming regularity all season. When it comes to individual players, Dirk Kuyt's miss saw him join the likes of Rooney, Walters and Watson in missing twice from the spot this season, with no player failing to score more than 1 penalty in the previous campaign.

Ba's miss in the Tyne-Wear derby was the 25th penalty that had not been converted so far, which, after just 27 rounds of fixtures is already up on last year. In fact, just over two thirds of the way through the season, there have been 81 penalties to date, with only 56 scored (69%). In comparison, in the entirety of the 2010/11 campaign there were 105 penalties, with 81 scored (77%).

Penalty misses can be divided into three categories, be it a save, a shot off target or striking the woodwork. Having gathered the stats it seems that it has been a great season for keepers, as 21 (84%) of the 25 misses thus far have been saved - to put this into perspective, of the 24 penalties missed last season only 14 (58%) were kept out by the opposing number one.

When looking closely at the keepers to have faced penalties this season, the increase in save ratios is alarming. Having not saved a spot kick before this weekend, Szczesny and Mignolet became the 12th and 13th goalkeepers to make penalty saves this season. This figure is, once more; already up on last term with 12 keepers making themselves heroes last time around.

In terms of stand out performers, Wigan's Ali Al-Habsi has prevented 4 penalties from flying past him, clearly bored of picking the ball out of the net having done so 52 times this season. Remarkably the Oman international has already faced 8 spot kicks, meaning he has saved 50%.

Al-Habsi is one of 7 keepers to have kept out at least half of the penalties they have faced this season, with only 3 stoppers managing to do so in the previous campaign. Wigan's number one is also one of 6 goalies to have saved 2 or more penalties this season, with only Heurelho Gomes and Jussi Jaaskelainen managing to do so in 2010/11.

The tally of 13 keepers to have already made saves from the spot will only grow before the end of the season, with only 12 keepers to have faced penalties failing to make a save thus far (48%). This is, again, considerably higher than last time around when 18 (60%) of the 30 keepers to face spot kicks failed to keep out a single one.

Perfect Placement - Aim High

To conclude this article praising the league's keepers we thought we'd share a little advice with the penalty takers out there by collecting the success rates per section of the goal (bottom right, centre, left and top right, centre, left). The findings show that those who have been bold enough to aim for the roof of the net have been rewarded for their bravery.

In terms of the worst place to aim from the spot this season, the bottom left corner of the goal, where Dirk Kuyt elected to shoot on Saturday, has proven least fruitful. Only 17 (61%) of the 28 shots down low to the keeper's right have gone in - in comparison, 75% of the 32 shots low to the keepers' left have gone in. However, of the 14 efforts into the top half of the goal only 1 has been saved, with the 4 shots apiece to the top left and right corners all beating the goalkeeper thus far.