47 out of 48. That is Matt Le Tissier's penalty record, a conversion rate of 98%, and nothing else on this list comes close to it.
The one miss came in 1993, saved by Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Mark Crossley. Every other time he stepped up, the ball went in.
Why is a Southampton man ranked this high?
Because the numbers do not care about the size of the club. Le Tissier spent his whole career at Southampton, a one-club man at a mid-table club, and his record from the spot matches anyone in the history of the game. He never played for Real Madrid or Barcelona. He did not need to.
His technique was patience. He waited for the goalkeeper to move, then calmly placed the ball in the other corner. Keepers knew where he tended to put it and still could not keep it out, which says a lot about how late he made his choice.
Plenty of great players on this countdown have missed big penalties. Le Tissier missed one, in his entire career. For sheer accuracy, the English game has not seen better, and he is our number 4.
Tomorrow we reach number 3.
