Liverpool travels to the Emirates to face Arsenal in the second leg of their semifinal series, a week after Chelsea dusted off Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 on aggregate after two victories (2-0 and 1-0).
Arsenal somehow held on at Anfield Road in the first leg despite a Granit Xhaka red card leaving then with 10 men for 66 minutes.
LIVE BLOG: Arsenal vs. Liverpool semifinal 2nd leg
There’s obviously a chance that the two teams finish deadlocked again in Thursday’s second leg. Here’s what you need to know about how the tiebreakers work in the Carabao Cup.
Do away goals count in the Carabao Cup semis?
To start: no, away goals do not count as a tiebreaker in the League Cup semifinals according to the tournament rules.
That means if the aggregate scoreline is level at the end of regulation of the second leg, there is no away goals tiebreaker that’s applied. The teams will head to 30 minutes of extra time and a penalty-kick shootout, if necessary.
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The EFL Cup actually did use the away goals tiebreaker for two-leg series up until the 2018-19 competition, when it was scrapped along with extra time for single-game elimination rounds.
Regulation 14.5 of the tournament statutes explains:
How can Liverpool, Arsenal advance to Carabao Cup final?
The formula is simple for both clubs to advance to the 2022 final: Win the second leg.
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Arsenal will be at home, but a handful of key absences in the squad will level the playing field against a formidable Liverpool team that is second in the Premier League table. But the Reds will also be missing two of their most important players in Sadio Mane (Senegal) and Mohamed Salah (Egypt), who are both on AFCON duty.
Arsenal is on a mission to win its first Carabao Cup since 1993. It made the final on three occasions since then, but fell at the final hurdle in each instance: 2007 (vs. Chelsea), 2011 (vs. Birmingham City) and 2018 (vs. Manchester City).
Liverpool stands alongside Manchester City with most triumphs in this competition (eight), last winning it in 2012. The Reds also made the final in 2016, but lost to Manchester City in a penalty-kick shootout.
