Liverpool’s Record in Penalty Shootouts

On 15th August, 2024, Ajax and Panathinaikos made footballing headlines for setting the record for most penalty kicks taken in a shootout of a UEFA competition. The marathon battle, which lasted 25 minutes, saw a whopping 34 penalties taken, with Ajax eventually winning 13-12.

Very few penalty shootouts have seen 25 converted efforts, but one team to have witnessed more than this is Liverpool. In the 2014/15 season, the Reds booked their place in the League Cup 4th round after beating Middlesborough 14-13 on penalties. They may have edged out this marathon battle though, but how have Liverpool fared more generally in penalty shootouts?

LFC’s Penalty Shootout Win Rate

Liverpool’s first taste of a penalty shootout came in the 1974 Charity Shield. Including this initial taste against Leeds United, the Merseysiders have been involved in 27 shootouts (figures vary depending on whether we include lesser competitions such as friendly tournaments). Given that a penalty shootout involves two teams and there must always be a winner, an average record would mean Liverpool winning 13 or 14 of these. Liverpool’s record is much better than this though as they have won 20 of their shootouts, giving them an impressive win rate of 74%.

Few top English teams can beat this figure although there are a couple of examples including Nottingham Forest (85%) and Aston Villa (80%). In both these cases though, they have been involved in a much lower number of shootouts (13 and 10, respectively), making it a little less statistically impressive.

Penalties are often called a lottery and while perhaps partly true, Liverpool’s record suggests there is a little more to them. Imagine if penalties were a literal coin toss where heads is a Liverpool win and tails is a defeat. The chance of getting at least 20 wins (heads) from 27 shootouts (tosses) is less than 1%. Now, unlikely things can happen out of pure chance but there are a few reasons why Liverpool might have an advantage at shootouts rather than it being purely a matter of good fortune.

Explaining Liverpool’s Shootout Record

The way we see it, there are three factors that could give Liverpool a tangible edge in a shootout.

Extra Practice

One thing any footballer will tell you about penalties is that it is hard to replicate the pressures of a shootout in a training environment. A team’s designated penalty taker will be familiar with the pressures but many players stepping up in a shootout will have little competitive spot-kick experience. Liverpool players have been more practiced than most though due to their regular shootout involvement. Between 2001 and 2022, the Reds averaged one shootout per year.

Reputation Matters

Some will say that the most important part of a penalty shootout is not preparation or technical ability, but mentality. Most professional players would confidently back themselves to score in training but belief can drop in a much more stressful environment. Knowing your team has an excellent penalty record may help reduce some of this stress though and instead instil a sense of confidence. This is particularly true for players that have been involved in previous wins. In other words, success breeds success.

Coaching

This one is more speculative but it could be that Liverpool have typically had better setups when it comes to preparation for shootouts. Whether this involves putting in more practice than most during training or more focus on player psychology, the earlier work can play its part. For a side that faces so many shootouts, in part because of all the competitions they are involved in, it is not an unreasonable assumption to think they give more consideration to penalties than most.

Penalty Shootouts in Full

Here is a list of Liverpool’s 27 shootouts (correct as of the start of the 2024/25 season) across competitions, in chronological order. They boast a particularly good record in cup finals where they have prevailed on seven of eight occasions. Be mindful of this the next time the Reds find themselves at the last stage of a knockout competition!