Omar Marmoush missed a penalty in the FA Cup final, with Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson claiming he knew which way the Egyptian would shoot.
Speaking after Palace&#8217;s historic 1-0 victory at Wembley on Saturday (May 17), Henderson said of his save:
<blockquote>“If Haaland might’ve stepped up, I didn’t know which way he’d go, but Marmoush, I knew which way he was going.”</blockquote>
Was Henderson&#8217;s confidence justified? We take a look at Marmoush&#8217;s spot-kick history and assess the penalty situation at Manchester City more generally.
Will Marmoush get another chance in future or will Erling Haaland revert to being the top choice from 12 yards?

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<h2>Who&#8217;s on penalties for City? Why didn&#8217;t Haaland step up in the cup final?</h2>
Haaland has been City&#8217;s main penalty taker this season.
Saturday was the only time he had not stepped up when a spot-kick was awarded while he was on the pitch.
He has taken seven in all competitions in 2024/25 but has not got the best record, converting just four of them.
This may explain why he isn&#8217;t the undisputed taker, with Pep Guardiola explaining post-match that it was up to the players to decide. He said:
<blockquote>
“I didn’t speak with them [Haaland and Marmoush].
“They take a decision, penalties are like that. I like guys who take initiative and they decide.
“In that moment, it’s how they feel. They decided Omar was ready to take it.
“Omar took a lot of time when the ball was stopped and after he kicked so it put more pressure on him and Henderson made a good save.”
</blockquote>
<div id="attachment_72991" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-72991" class="size-full wp-image-72991" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Marmoush-penalty-getty.jpg" alt="Omar Marmoush's penalty was saved by Dean Henderson. Picture by Getty Images" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Marmoush-penalty-getty.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Marmoush-penalty-getty-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Marmoush-penalty-getty-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Omar Marmoush&#8217;s penalty was saved by Dean Henderson. Picture by Getty Images</div>
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We&#8217;ve seen this approach at other Premier League clubs, with Arsenal&#8217;s usual taker Bukayo Saka sometimes handing the task to his teammates last season.
It&#8217;s not an ideal situation for FPL managers, who often pick players based on their set-piece responsibilities.
But Haaland still looks most likely to take a penalty if he&#8217;s available to.
With the Marmoush example excluded, the only times Haaland hasn&#8217;t taken a City penalty this season have been when he&#8217;s off the pitch, with Matheus Nunes, Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku stepping up instead.
He took all 10 he was available to in the 2023/24 season, when he only missed once.
And in his debut season in 2022/23, all but two came his way.
Marmoush&#8217;s miss will not have helped him claim them full-time, so Haaland should be well placed next time.
<div id="attachment_72990" style="width: 808px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-72990" class="size-full wp-image-72990" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Haaland-penalty-record.jpg" alt="Erling Haaland's Premier League penalty record" width="798" height="650" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Haaland-penalty-record.jpg 798w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Haaland-penalty-record-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Haaland-penalty-record-768x626.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 798px) 100vw, 798px" />Erling Haaland&#8217;s Premier League penalty record</div>
<h2>Marmoush&#8217;s penalty record</h2>
Marmoush took a penalty for the first time in a City shirt on Saturday.
He&#8217;s no stranger to taking them though &#8211; it was the 10th of the 26-year-old&#8217;s senior career.
Before his cup final miss, Marmoush had scored eight of his nine penalties.
His only previous failure from the spot came back in December 2021 while playing for Stuttgart, according to <a href="https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/omar-marmoush/elfmetertore/spieler/445939#:~:text=Total%20penalties%20scored%20%2D%208">Transfermarkt</a>.
Here, he attempted a panenka-style chip down the middle, only to clip the crossbar.
<div id="attachment_72984" style="width: 808px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-72984" class="size-full wp-image-72984" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Marmoush-2.jpg" alt="Omar Marmoush" width="798" height="650" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Marmoush-2.jpg 798w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Marmoush-2-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Marmoush-2-768x626.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 798px) 100vw, 798px" />Omar Marmoush</div>
&nbsp;
But Henderson may have a point about Marmoush&#8217;s predictability, certainly in more recent examples.
Marmoush has aimed to the goalkeeper&#8217;s bottom-right in each of his last three attempts, with this side favoured six times in total, albeit not always on the low side.
Ultimately, having a favoured side is not necessarily a problem.
The issue against Henderson was that the penalty was not very accurate &#8211; and had it been closer to the corner, Henderson may not have been able to do much about it, even if he knew which side Marmoush was going to aim.
<h3>Marmoush&#8217;s penalties by direction and trajectory</h3>
<ul>
<li>May 2025 v Crystal Palace: Missed to keeper&#8217;s bottom-right</li>
<li>November 2024 v Midtjylland: Scored to keeper&#8217;s bottom-right</li>
<li>October 2024 v Bayer Leverkusen: Scored to keeper&#8217;s bottom-right</li>
<li>October 2024 v Besiktas: Scored down the middle</li>
<li>September 2024 v Wolfsburg: Scored to keeper&#8217;s bottom-right &#8211; shot lifted slightly</li>
<li>May 2024 v RB Leipzig: Scored to keeper&#8217;s bottom right</li>
<li>October 2023 v Borussia Dortmund: Scored down the middle</li>
<li>September 2023 v Aberdeen: Scored to keeper&#8217;s bottom left</li>
<li>December 2021 v Wolfsburg: Missed centrally &#8211; hit bar</li>
<li>February 2021 v FC Nuremberg: Scored to keeper&#8217;s top right</li>
</ul>
<h2>Are Marmoush&#8217;s shots predictable generally?</h2>
Marmoush&#8217;s penalty miss prompted Athletic analyst Alex Barker to highlight a supposed trend in <a href="https://x.com/AlexanderBrkr/status/1923772623302857055">Marmoush&#8217;s shooting</a>.
He noted that it wasn&#8217;t just penalties where Marmoush favoured one side &#8211; it was his shooting too.
The basis for this was his Bundesliga performances before joining City in January.
As can be seen from the <a href="https://www.fotmob.com/en-GB/players/839204/omar-marmoush">FotMob data</a>, there was certainly a trend to his goals in the German top flight, with many going towards the goalkeeper&#8217;s bottom-right corner.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-72994" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Marmoush-Bundesliga-shot-map-1024x497.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="497" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Marmoush-Bundesliga-shot-map-1024x497.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Marmoush-Bundesliga-shot-map-300x146.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Marmoush-Bundesliga-shot-map-768x373.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Marmoush-Bundesliga-shot-map.jpg 1037w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />
&nbsp;
This trend has partially carried into Marmoush&#8217;s Premier League career, with none of his goals directed to the other side of the net.
His general shot map however does show a range of attempts &#8211; as does his Bundesliga shot map.
While this may be something City&#8217;s coaches look at, FPL managers will have a more general eye on his expected goals (xG).
Alex&#8217;s critique was that Marmoush&#8217;s output may drop if defenders and goalkeepers clock a predictable pattern.
For now though, his xG is tracking roughly alongside his goalscoring.
His early City goals had come well ahead of his xG but now he has six goals against an xG of 5.06.
<div id="attachment_72995" style="width: 808px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-72995" class="size-full wp-image-72995" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Marmoush-shots.jpg" alt="Marmoush Premier League shot map" width="798" height="650" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Marmoush-shots.jpg 798w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Marmoush-shots-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Marmoush-shots-768x626.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 798px) 100vw, 798px" />Marmoush Premier League shot map</div>
<h2>Quick summary: City and Haaland&#8217;s penalties</h2>
In a rush? Here&#8217;s a quick summary of our analysis!
<ul>
<li>Haaland is likely to take the majority of City&#8217;s penalties, having taken most of them in his time at the club</li>
<li>Spot-kick duties may fall to others on occasion as Guardiola gives players the freedom to decide among themselves</li>
<li>Dean Henderson thinks Marmoush&#8217;s penalties are predictable &#8211; and on the whole, he&#8217;s got a point</li>
<li>Marmoush has a tendency to score to the goalkeeper&#8217;s bottom right, which could harm his output in future</li>
</ul>
<div id="attachment_72996" style="width: 808px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-72996" class="size-full wp-image-72996" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Marmoush-GW1-37.jpg" alt="Omar Marmoush's stats" width="798" height="650" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Marmoush-GW1-37.jpg 798w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Marmoush-GW1-37-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Marmoush-GW1-37-768x626.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 798px) 100vw, 798px" />Omar Marmoush&#8217;s <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="1" title="FPL Stats by OPTA - Player and Team Stats">stats</a></div>
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FPL tips: Who’s on penalties for City – and are Marmoush’s shots too predictable?

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