Arsenal may need a penalty shootout to get past Liverpool and reach the Carabao Cup final.
Following a goalless draw in last week's semi-final first leg at Anfield, Thursday night's decider is delicately poised and with the away goals rule already scrapped it should be an entertaining game at the Emirates Stadium.
As per EFL rules, if the scores are level on aggregate after 90 minutes, as well as 30 minutes of extra time, the game will be decided by a penalty shootout.
Arsenal are no strangers to this scenario having been involved in six League Cup shootouts throughout the history of the competition - including each of the last two seasons against Liverpool.
Of those six shootouts, the Gunners have only lost two.
Meanwhile their record from the spot over the past two seasons - despite two misses this campaign - is quite impressive as it should give Mikel Arteta some confidence if he needs to name five takers against the Reds.
Since the 2019/20 season, the north London outfit have been awarded 19 penalties across all competitions and have missed just four of them which gives them a success rate of 78.9%.
Those statistics prove that Arsenal have a squad of players who are comfortable from 12 yards and can handle the pressure of a penalty shootout.
However, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang out of favour, Nicolas Pepe away at the Africa Cup of Nations, Ainsley Maitland-Niles in Italy with AS Roma and Cedric Soares likely to miss the game through injury, Arteta won't be able to call upon some of his more trusted penalty takers.
So, if Thursday night's Carabao Cup semi-final against Liverpool is decided by penalties, who should be the first five that step up for the Gunners given their previous records?
football.london takes a look.
Alexandre Lacazette
This is an easy choice. The Frenchman may not have proven to be the signing to take Arsenal closer to a Premier League title challenge, but he's one of the most reliable penalty takers around.
During his time in north London, Lacazette has taken 10 penalties (not including shootouts) for the Gunners and has a near-perfect record after missing his first Arsenal spot-kick against West Ham United last month.
But if the Liverpool clash does go to penalties, then it's almost certain that the 30-year-old, if he's still on the pitch, will be the first Arsenal player to step up.
Just like he was against Liverpool last season, Lacazette has shown he can be relied upon to get Arsenal off to a good start.
Eddie Nketiah
The academy graduate has never taken a penalty for Arsenal at senior level. Eddie Nketiah has scored two, but has also missed four at youth level which may explain why he's not a regular.
Although his record at international level improves things as for England Under-19's and Under-21's, Nketiah has scored four from six attempts.
This record may not fill many Arsenal fans with much confidence if they see Nketiah walking up to the penalty spot if the Liverpool game goes all the way.
But having taken 12 throughout his career so far, it's almost certain that the 22-year-old won't shy away if asked to take one in a huge pressure situation.
Gabriel Martinelli
The Brazilian was in the Arsenal side that lost the penalty shootout against Liverpool in the 2019/20 season following a bonkers 5-5 draw at Anfield.
Stepping up third after Hector Bellerin and Matteo Guendouzi had converted their spot-kicks, Martinelli made no mistake from 12 yards to restore the Gunners' advantage.
Unfortunately, Dani Ceballos' miss proved costly, but it was the game where Martinelli was hailed as the 'talent of the century' by Reds manager Jurgen Klopp following his two goals in normal time.
"[Van den Berg] played an incredible game. That’s really difficult to deal with these guys," Klopp said. "Martinelli’s pretty much the same age but he’s a talent of the century, he’s an incredible striker, so it’s really difficult."
The form that Martinelli has been in recently, it's likely he will have no problem with stepping up again if needed.
Martin Odegaard
As a clean striker of the ball, one would expect that the Norwegian playmaker would be confident from 12 yards.
Odegaard showed his set-piece prowess with a stunning free-kick against Burnley earlier in the season and has shown his appetite for goals since returning to the side before the festive period.
The attacking midfielder has taken one penalty in his career, and he scored it whilst on loan at Vitesse in a 6-1 win over Heerenveen.
The wildcards
The problem Arteta may face if the Liverpool clash does go to penalties is that there's not a lot of shootout experience amongst the squad of players that he's likely to choose from.
Then there's Bukayo Saka who suffered the ultimate heartbreak with England in the Euro 2020 final just last summer when his decisive spot-kick was saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma to give Italy the trophy.
Whether the winger would be willing to take a penalty remains to be seen, but he would be one of several wildcard options and would be called upon to take one at some point if the shootout was to mirror last season's one between Manchester United and Villarreal in the Europa League final.
Other options include Benjamin White, Nuno Tavares and Kieran Tierney, but the best could be Calum Chambers.
When discussing the idea of taking a last-minute penalty with Maitland-Niles and former teammate Alex Iwobi a few years ago, the versatile defender said he would step up and revealed his plan.
"I'm taking it, but I'm not dinking it," he told Arsenal Media. "I'll go safe."
With Cedric out, Chambers could be in contention to start against the Reds and if he's on the pitch for a penalty shootout, he may nominate himself as one of the takers.
