How much longer will Wolves' penalty curse go on for?

Eight clubs across the English Football League have not been awarded a spot kick at any stage of the league campaign so far. 

In the Championship, Wolves' Black Country rivals West Brom have not been awarded a penalty in the 33 games they have played - neither have Oxford United.

Leyton Orient, Wigan and Burton have not had one in the third tier - they are slightly behind the Championship in terms of games played.  

Cheltenham and Harrogate Town are the only sides in the bottom division of the professional football pyramid not to have a spot-kick. 

Wolves put in a spirited performance at Anfield at the weekend and were unfortunate not to come away with anything from the game.

Matheus Cunha's wonderful left-footed strike in the second period halved the deficit, but they still ended up losing 2-1 after earlier goals from Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah. 

Liverpool were awarded two penalties in that match. Both were checked by VAR, one was confirmed, while the other was overturned. 

At the time of writing, Arne Slot's men have been awarded the joint most penalties in the top flight this season. The seven they have been given, have all been dispatched by Salah, and that includes the penalties he has netted in both fixtures against Wolves. 

Vitor Pereira's Wolves are back in Premier League action this weekend when they make the trip to the south coast to take on Bournemouth. 

And the Cherries are joint top of the penalty charts with Liverpool. They too have been given seven penalties. 

Evanilson missed one against Chelsea back in September, which has seen Justin Kluivert take on the responsibility – as Wolves know only too well. 

He has converted six out of six since, three coming as Kluivert made Premier League history by converting a hat-trick of spot-kicks in the reverse fixture against Wolves at Molineux on November 30.

The last time Wolves had a penalty was at the back end of last season on April 6 when Pablo Sarabia scored from the spot in the 33rd minute of the 2-1 home defeat to West Ham. 

Over the course of last season, Wolves had five penalties, and they scored all of them. Sarabia scored two - his other came in the 4-3 defeat to Manchester United in February 2024. 

Cunha scored two spot kicks for Wolves last campaign. One in the Premier League win at Chelsea - where he netted a hat-trick - and the other in the FA Cup win against Brentford. 

Hwang Hee-chan was the other Wolves player to be successful from the spot when he scored in the 3-2 loss to Fulham. 

As Wolves prepare to head to the Vitality Stadium this weekend - Pereira will be hoping the penalty drought does not go on for too much longer.