Emiliano Martinez is the ‘shootout king’, but he’s not the best at saving penalties in the Premier League…as surprise former Arsenal goalkeeper takes top spot
Emiliano Martinez once again showed his penalty-saving credentials as he helped Aston Villa prevail past Lille to reach the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League.
Martinez saved two penalties in the shootout, including the decisive spot-kick from Benjamin Andre.
The Argentina goalkeeper also saved two spot-kicks against France in the 2022 World Cup final as his nation prevailed.
However, it has been revealed that another former Arsenal goalkeeper has outperformed Martinez with regards to saving penalties in the Premier League.
Emiliano Martinez isn’t the best goalkeeper at saving penalties in the Premier League
Since the start of the 2020-21 campaign, West Ham’s Lukasz Fabianski has the best penalty-saving record in the Premier League.
Fabianski has saved five of the 18 penalties that he has faced in that time period, which represents a save percentage of 28 per cent.
In second place is former Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea, who has saved three out of 12 penalties, giving him a save percentage of 18 per cent.
Martinez, who joined Villa in 2020, is third with a save percentage of 18 per cent after he kept out three out of 17 penalties.
Ex-Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel is in fourth place despite the fact that he hasn’t played in the Premier League since 2022 following his move to Nice.
Schmeichel saved two out of 13 Premier League penalties in the relevant time period, which gives him a save percentage of 15 per cent.
Liverpool’s Alisson is level in fourth place with Schmeichel as he has also saved two out of 13 penalties.
Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope, who also played for Burnley during this time frame, has the exact same record as Schmeichel and Alisson.
Fabianksi has saved the most penalties in the Premier League since the start of the 2020-21 campaign with five, while de Gea and Martinez have both kept out three spot-kicks.
Lukasz Fabianski has the best record for keeping out penalties since the start of 2020-21
Ex-Man United goalkeeper David de Gea is third in terms of saving Premier League penalties
