How many big area contacts does each team need to win a penalty? How many does it take her opponents to put the ball on the white ball when facing her on the field?

Opta / Stats Perform can give us answers to that as well. But let’s get things straight first.

It’s not about referees and decisions during the game. In no case do we take into account how many penalties were correctly awarded, nor how many should have been awarded and should not have been awarded.

The facts you will see do not imply favorable treatment of groups, nor hostility towards others. It’s just what happens.

It’s a simple record of the data as it emerges from Opta’s data for the last three seasons, from Summer 2019 to present.

Penalties in favor of the last three years

We’ll start by looking at the picture of penalties. In the last three seasons, 11 teams have had a stable presence in Super League Interwetten: Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, PAOK, AEK, Aris, OFI, Asteras, Atromitos, Lamia, Volos and Panetolikos.

These are the penalties for and against the 11 teams from summer 2019 to date while we have the difference in the last column.

PAOK has taken the most penalties with 37 while also being the team that has scored the least, just 10. Next is Panathinaikos, the 2nd team with more than 30 penalties won and 14 goals conceded.

Olympiacos have won 26 penalties and have had the fewest penalties with 11 against PAOK. AEK have just conceded another penalty from Asteras, but 13 penalties have been awarded against Arkades, while Union opponents have gone before Parliament 18 times.

Aris has won more penalties than AEK with 24 and only two fewer than Olympiakos, but the yellow ones got 22 penalties.

The penalty picture speaks for the summer of 2019

Now let’s look at the frequency with which these penalties were awarded. The rationale is simple. Thanks to Opta, we know how many actions with the ball each team made in the opposing area.

These are the actions in area that took the 11 teams that have played in the Super League Interwetten in the last three years to take a penalty.

Panathinaikos is the first. The Greens have taken a penalty every 45 actions with the ball in opposition territory, the only team to need fewer than 50 contacts to go to the ball.

PAOK follows with 59 actions for every penalty won, while the other three of the Big-5 are at the bottom of the chart.

Aris takes a penalty every 78 actions and Olympiakos every 83. Of the 11 teams that have played in all three seasons, AEK is the team that needs the most contacts to execute a penalty with 95.

The picture of the penalty shootout in the summer of 2019

Let’s go and see the opposite. In the next graph we see how many actions in the area each team’s opponents need to win a penalty.

PAOK comes first as their opponents bring all 115 actions in Dikefalos area before Parliament. Asteras, Panathinaikos, Lamia and Olympiakos complete the top five teams whose opponents want more than 100 contacts to receive a penalty.

AEK’s opponents need 67 actions in Union territory to get into Parliament, and Aris’ opponents want 61 contacts.

What happened this year

Let’s do the same and just focus on this season. Here, of course, the sample of games is much smaller and the balance sheets changeable, since one game and a few penalties can change the performance of the teams a lot.

We start with the penalty shootouts and the actions in the penalty area that the 14 teams in the league need to get a penalty this year.

PAOK wins the fight with Panathinaikos, with Dikefalos taking 43 actions to receive a penalty and the Greens pulling all 47 contacts before Parliament.

Olympiacos are close to the average that says “every 74 contacts in an opponent’s area you get a penalty”, while AEK have taken a penalty every 107 actions in an opponent’s area this year.

Let’s see what happens in penalties this year.

PAOK’s opponents have taken a penalty every 183 actions in the Dikefalos area, with Lamia just above Olympiakos in the list.

Panathinaikos sees opponents go before parliament every 92 actions in the region, while AEK receives an average penalty for every 75 contacts in their region.

The relationship with player skill and luck

We conclude with the following, which does not only concern the Greek championship, but football in general. When talking about penalties, one usually hears the attack, “It’s about players, about quick craftsmen who win penalties”.

Sounds nice as a theory, but has no basis. The truth is that penalties are luckier than anything else. Luckily, no team can claim to take that many penalties every season.

Let’s take a look at the Premier League. Manchester United have had three seasons with more than 10 penalties won: 12 times in 2018/19, 14 times in 2019/20 and 11 times last year.

United have only taken three penalties this year. In the six seasons leading up to 2019, he had never scored more than seven penalties. Nothing notable has happened in the three seasons she’s had a double-digit penalty, nor has she had a player on her roster who doesn’t have one anymore.

First in penalties in last season’s Premier League was Leicester at 12. Rodgers’ side have only had the ball twice this year. What has changed this season? Nothing, she’s just not that lucky.

If it were an ability, the number of penalties for each team would remain relatively constant. And if it were all about the quality of the players, then Bournemouth wouldn’t be the team with the most penalties in the Premier League in 2016-17, and Crystal Palace wouldn’t be the team with the most penalties for two (!) consecutive seasons in 2018 and 2019.

How many penalties you take is ultimately not in your hands. Because you can not determine the reaction of the individual defenders. You cannot influence whether he keeps his hand outstretched on the crossbar or whether he stretches it out during the shot.

It’s not up to you whether he makes a delayed tackle or lets your player pass, nor can you know if the opposing goaltender is running in front of the forward’s foot for no reason, instead of holding his position and waiting for the shot.