Who Should Be Liverpool’s Penalty Taker During Mohamed Salah’s Absence?

The absence of Mohamed Salah is a daunting one for Liverpool to face considering his sheer importance. The Egyptian once again leads Liverpool in goals and assists this season - an impressive regularity he’s been able to achieve since arriving at Anfield in 2017.

His penalty ability is among the things fans and his teammates will miss while he is representing Egypt in the Africa Cup of Nations.

The 31-year-old has been the undisputed penalty taker since joining the club even with specialist takers such as James Milner and Fabinho on the books.

He’s taken plenty and he’s scored plenty but he’s missed four penalties for Liverpool in less than a year which has begun questions on whether the club should appoint a new penalty taker.

At least during his absence, one will need to be appointed… but who?

Alexis Mac Allister

The Argentine was in charge of penalty duties during his time at Brighton where he scored eight out of nine. An impressive record, with his only miss coming in 2022 against Wolves’ Jose Sa in what was a 3-0 win for Brighton.

The 2022 World Cup winner recently returned from injury and will no doubt be in the conversation for Liverpool’s temporary penalty taker considering he’s scored 10 penalties in his professional career with a bulk of them coming in the Premier League.

Dominik Szoboszlai

The Hungary captain has already shown how incredible his ball-striking is with a few thunderous strikes scored for Liverpool and that ability also stretches to penalties.

The 23-year-old was RB Leipzig’s main penalty taker during his tenure at the club and for RB Salzburg prior to his move to the German Bundesliga.

Szoboszlai scored 16 penalties in his career, missing just once, with that instance coming for Leipzig in a 3-1 loss to Bayer Leverkusen in 2021.

He’s since scored his next four penalties with his most recent coming for Hungary last October in a 2-2 draw with Lithuania in a Euro 2024 qualification game.

Darwin Núñez

Not many are aware of Darwin Núñez’s penalty capabilities but the 24-year-old is so far perfect from 12 yards during his career. He’s taken 12 penalties and scored them all with five coming for Almeria, six coming for Benfica, and one for Liverpool in the 3-1 Europa League win over LASK a few months ago.

The Uruguayan isn’t exactly clinical from goal but he’s shown maturity in his penalties and it could be a way for Núñez to gain confidence in front of goal which is something he’s certainly struggled with so far in his Liverpool career.

Salah may not be gone for long but should Liverpool get a penalty while he’s not here, it’s imperative that Klopp decides who he bestows the crown of the penalty taker on.