England's Top Five Penalty Takers For the Germans to Deal With

These are the five most likely penalty takers for the Germans to deal with if the England-Germany game ends in a draw on Sunday.

Many of the English players are dwelling on the thought of a penalty shoot-out and are not looking forward to penalties if it comes to that, but here are some reasons for optimism, in the form of England's finest penalty takers.

Penalty Taker One: Frank Lampard (Chelsea F.C)

Lampard is arguably England's best penalty taker and has been Fabio Capello's first choice for spot kicks since his reign began.

Last 5 Penalties (Club and Country)-

England vs Japan (30 May 2010) : Missed

Chelsea vs Portsmouth (FA Cup Final- 15th May 2010) : Missed

Chelsea vs Wigan (9 May 2010): Scored

Chelsea vs Stoke (25 April 2010): Scored

Chelsea vs Aston Villa (27 March 2010): Scored

As you can see, Frank Lampard is a frequent and successful penalty taker for both England and Chelsea. This makes him most likely to be Capello's number one penalty taker for the World Cup

Penalty Taker Two: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool F.C)

Gerrard is most likely to be selected as England's second penalty taker for shootouts. Gerrard is Liverpool's number one penalty kicker and is successful for Liverpool in both European and the Premier League competition.

Last 5 Penalties (Club)-

v Lille (18 March 2010): Scored

v Birmingham (9 November 2009): Scored

v Tottenham (16 August 2009): Scored

v West Ham (9 May 2009): Missed

v Aston Villa (22 March 2009): Scored

Gerrard has not taken any penalties for England recently, so he does not have a record in this article. In the penalties that have been taken by Gerrard, he has been very successful for Liverpool.

Penalty Taker Three: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)

Rooney is carrying the hopes of a nation on his shoulders and based on his performances for England thus far in the World Cup, he has failed to live up to them.

Rooney has had a spectacular season and was the first choice taker for the Premier League runner up, Manchester United.

Last Five Penalties (Club)-

v Liverpool (21 March 2010): Missed

v Wolves (15 December 2009): Scored

v Portsmouth (28 November 2009): Scored

v Portsmouth (28 November 2009): Scored

v Arsenal (29 August 2009): Scored

Rooney has had another successful season from the penalty spot (much like England's other options). In the spot kick which Rooney missed against Liverpool, he followed up and scored the rebound.

This record has to make him one of Capello's top choices for penalties.

Penalty Taker Three: Gareth Barry (Manchester City F.C)

Although Gareth Barry did not taken any penalty shots last season for Manchester City (Tevez preferred) he had a very successful stint as penalty taker for Aston Villa in the 08-09 season, not missing any of the penalties taken.

Last Five Penalties (Club 08-09 season)-

v Everton (12 April 2009): Scored

v Sunderland (17 January 2009): Scored

v Arsenal (26 December 2008): Scored

v Wigan (26 October 2008): Scored

v Litex (18 September 2008): Scored

Barry will be one of the more highly rated penalty takers in the squad and his success with Aston Villa makes him one of the top contenders.

Penalty Taker Five: James Milner (Aston Villa F.C)

Milner is still very young but did well to lead Villa's penalty taking line after the departure of Gareth Barry at the start of the season.

Both MIlner and Norway's John Carew shared the penalty taking reigns—but MIlner took and scored more.

Last Five Penalties (Club)-

v Birmingham (25 April 2010): Scored

v Hull (21 April 2010): Scored

v Manchester United (Carling Cup Final, 28 February 2010): Scored

v Blackburn (20 January 2010): Scored

v Bolton (7 November 2009): Missed

Confident when he takes penalties for Villa, MIlner thrives on the pressure of penalties scoring in the Birmingham Derby in April on Villa's march for fourth place.

England's Top Shot-Stopper; David James (Portsmouth F.C)

James is England's top goalkeeper and one of the top penalty saving goalkeepers in the Premier League last season despite the woeful season Portsmouth had.

His most significant of penalty saves last season came in the FA Cup Final against Chelsea, saving England and Chelsea's own Frank Lampard's penalty.

James has so far kept two clean sheets in two games for England in this World Cup.

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