Mohamed Salah scored his 14th goal of the season in Liverpool's 1-0 win at Brighton on Saturday. He's now tied for the league lead with Harry Kane and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The goal was scored via a penalty kick, and Salah's previous two goals were scored from the spot as well, against Arsenal and Newcastle.
Salah is having another excellent season -- in fact, he's now the league leader in both expected goals (13.97) and expected assists (5.97), and has nearly caught Eden Hazard for the league lead in fantasy points. But Salah's recent success from the penalty spot could lead to him running away from the rest of the competition.
The question is, will Salah continue to handle penalty kicks?
James Milner was out for the games against Arsenal and Newcastle, and on the bench when Salah scored against Brighton. But Milner was Liverpool's designated penalty-taker at the start of the season, scoring their first one against Crystal Palace on Aug. 20.
Milner has also handled (and converted) the two Champions League penalties that were given while he was on the field -- against Paris-Saint Germain on Sept. 18, and against the same opponents on Nov. 28.
And Milner figures to be in the lineup a lot following the news Tuesday that fullback Trent Alexander-Arnold is facing several weeks out due to a knee injury. Milner, in addition to being one of Liverpool's best midfielders, has filled in at fullback before, and Jurgen Klopp doesn't have many other options there at this point.
Milner is a good penalty-taker, so I wouldn't be surprised if he resumes that role. But Salah is in a tight race to win a second consecutive Golden Boot, and may wish to keep taking penalties himself.
So, keep an eye on who handles Liverpool's next penalty kick. Because if Salah continues taking them, his fantasy value rises even higher than it already is.
That's a good policy in general -- to be aware of who handles penalty kicks, particularly for the most prolific teams. There have already been 61 penalties in the Premier League this season, with 48 of the kicks converted.
Manchester United, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth have been awarded the most penalties, six apiece. Liverpool, Leicester City, Southampton and Brighton have gotten five. Chelsea and Everton are next on the list with four, and Tottenham are the only team with three. Manchester City are among four teams with just two penalties awarded to them, and Arsenal are among four teams with only one. Burnley and Huddersfield Town are the only two teams yet to attempt a penalty kick this season.
In terms of individual players, Luka Milivojevic has taken all six of Crystal Palace's penalty kicks, and converted five of them. He also led the league in penalty kicks last season with eight, and converted seven of them.
Those penalty kicks are a big reason why Milivojevic is up to 14th overall in fantasy points on the season, and merits consideration for your fantasy team. He's not really an attacking midfielder, but has looked more dangerous from open play in recent weeks. Milivojevic has taken three shots in each of the past two games, and has already hit the woodwork three times this season.
Paul Pogba and Gylfi Sigurdsson have taken four penalty kicks, but each player has missed twice. No one else on Everton has attempted one, so it appears Sigurdsson still has the job. But Jesse Lingard handled Manchester United's most recent penalty, in their 5-1 win at Cardiff City on Dec. 22.
Lingard drew the foul, and Manchester United were already up 3-1, so maybe Pogba just let Lingard have that one? But that was also Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's first game in charge as manager, so things may have changed -- let's see who takes the next one for Manchester United.
Seven players have taken three penalty kicks so far this season, and all seven of those players are 3-for-3. That list includes Salah, Kane and Hazard, plus Jamie Vardy, Joshua King, Glenn Murray and Danny Ings. The latter four are all available as Tier 2 forwards, although Ings is currently out due to injury.
So, penalties are definitely something to keep in mind as you're building you fantasy team each week. They don't happen a ton -- there's been one in roughly every 3.5 games so far this season. But they usually result in goals, and if a player is his team's designated penalty-taker, that certainly increases his fantasy value.
If Milner does not start for Liverpool, or Salah just continues to handle penalty kicks, that makes Salah even more attractive at Tier 1 forward, and as a captain option.
And if you're torn between two players at another position, like Tier 1 midfielder, you could break the tie by choosing a penalty-taker. If Chelsea and Manchester City are both heavily favored in a given week, I'd probably take Hazard over Raheem Sterling or Leroy Sane, due in part to Hazard's penalty responsibilities.