Fabio Capello looks set to name Jamie Carragher in the England World Cup squad in an effort to solve his centre-back crisis (England 11/2 to win the World Cup).
The Liverpool central defender quit international football three years ago, but speculation has increased that Capello will name Carragher in his 30-man provisional squad on Tuesday.
Those chosen in the provisional squad are set to travel to a pre-tournament training camp in Austria and have warm-up games against Mexico and Japan, before the opening World Cup game against USA on June 12 (England 1/3 to win Group C).
Carragher made himself unavailable for England after expressing his disappointment at being played out of position, as he revealed in a radio interview in 2007: “I’ve never really played centre-half for England and, to be honest, I’ve never really played that well for England because I’ve played a lot of the time at full-back.
“If Steve McClaren’s chosen people ahead of me then I don’t think anyone can really complain if I would rather concentrate and save myself for Liverpool games.”
Carragher has been outspoken about his England career since quitting the international scene, making the following comments in his autobiography: “I confess: defeats wearing an England shirt never hurt me in the same way as losing with my club.
“I wasn’t uncaring or indifferent, I simply didn’t put England’s fortunes at the top of my priority list. Losing felt like a disappointment rather than a calamity.”
It now seems that Carragher has been persuaded to reverse that decision, due to England’s potential problems at centre-back.
John Terry’s form has been hit by his much-publicised off-the-field controversies, while his potential replacement as captain, Rio Ferdinand, has suffered from injuries all season.
Tottenham’s Ledley King has been instrumental to their recent success, but his knee problems ensure that he rarely plays more than one game per week and he has yet to represent England under Capello.
Other potential candidates such as Wes Brown and Joleon Lescot are also injured, while Michael Dawson and Gary Cahill remain uncapped.
The final squad of 23 will be named on June 1, but any subsequent seriously injured players can be replaced up to 24 hours before England’s World Cup opener and do not have to have been named in the original 30-man provisional squad.
England also have selection headaches in central midfield, following the injury to Gareth Barry, with the likes of Michael Carrick, Tom Huddlestone, Scott Parker and Owen Hargreaves ready to deputise, should the Manchester City player fail to recover for the World Cup.
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All the midweek excitement in the Premiership centred on Tottenham’s win over Manchester City which guaranteed the North London club their first crack at the Champions League. However, they still have something more to play for.
The Gunners still hold the advantage over their bitter rivals, although they have to assume that Spurs will take maximum points from their trip to Burnley on the final day of the season.
Jonny Evans has been described as a future leader of Manchester United (United 11/5 Premiership Outright 2010/2011) by boss Sir Alex Ferguson after he signed a new four-year deal at Old Trafford.
went some way to repaying the huge transfer fee Real Madrid payed for him in the summer with a dazzling display against a very decent Real Mallorca side.
Leeds boss Simon Grayson is confident the team he puts out against Bristol Rovers at Elland Road on Saturday will get them over the finish line and earn automatic promotion from League One.
Although Inter Milan and AS Roma are both in the race to lift this season’s Scudetto they are both likely to win comfortably at home on Sunday. The match that carries the most significance for the winners on Sunday will be the clash between 4th placed Sampdoria and 5th placed Palermo.
Manchester United supporters praying for a miracle at Stamford Bridge on Sunday should perhaps look away now (1/12 Chelsea 7/1 Man United – Premier League outright).
Wayne Rooney claims Manchester United can point to seven Premier League defeats this season if they fail to clinch a fourth straight title from under the noses of Chelsea (United 7/1, Cheslea 1/12 – Premier League Outright).
Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry will see a specialist this week about his ankle injury but it is not thought that problem is serious enough to keep him out of the World Cup (11/2 England – World Cup 2010 outright).
Wigan boss Roberto Martinez has assured fans that the Latics are heading to Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge on Sunday in search of a victory.