Liverpool

The 32-year-old was due to run out of contract at Anfield at the end of the season, putting into his doubt his run as a one-club man.

Carragher has made 641 appearances for the Reds, after making his debut back in January 1997, and always stated that he wanted to finish his career at Liverpool (10/1 – 2010-11 Europa League outright).

There were some doubts, under Rafa Benitez, last season as to whether the former England international would be offered a new deal.

But Roy Hodgson has always made it clear that he wants to keep the defender and Carragher has been more than happy to commit to the club.

The Bootle-born star has been a massive influence, winning 10 major honours during 15 years with the club, and now looks likely to see out his playing career with Liverpool.

After a week of court battles, Carragher’s new deal is the latest bit of good news for the Reds as they prepare for the Merseyside derby this weekend.

Fernando Torres (18/1 Premier League Top Scorer 2010-11) has been passed fit to start Sunday’s Premier League clash against Everton at Goodison Park, having recovered from an abductor muscle injury.

The Spanish international was forced to sit out his country’s Euro 2012 qualifiers against Lithuania and Scotland, but has returned to training this week.

Hodgson told the club’s website: “We see a livelier and a better Fernando every day. It was really unfortunate he got that injury against Blackpool but luckily it came in the international break.”

Liverpool could also have two defenders, Paul Konchesky and Fabio Aurelio, back in the squad for the short trip across Stanley Park (Everton 6/4, draw 11/5, Liverpool 17/10 – Match Betting).

Koncheskey missed the 2-1 defeat to Blackpool, while Aurelio is yet to feature this season having returned to the club in the summer.

Both left backs are under consideration though, and one is expected to start against Everton, with Daniel Agger a doubt with a back injury.

Liverpool will be without Dirk Kuyt for Sunday’s Merseyside derby, after the Dutch ace was ruled out for a month with an ankle injury picked up on international duty.

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Jamie Carragher

Reds boss Roy Hodgson was forced to sell wantaway Javier Mascherano and also tried to recruit a striker in the transfer window but failed to land several targets, including Mario Gomez of Bayern Munich and West Ham forward Carlton Cole.

However, defensive stalwart Carragher believes there is enough attacking talent at Anfield to fire them forward in the first half of the season.

The former England man believes a fit-again Fernando Torres, supported by David Ngog, youngster Daniel Pacheco, Ryan Babel and Dirk Kuyt provide plenty of options for the Merseysiders (Top Six finish – 3/10).

“We are looking for Fernando Torres to stay as fit as possible but I think David Ngog in the last 12 months is a completely different player, and his start to the season has been fantastic,” he said.

“We’ve also got Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel as well.”

Meanwhile Pepe Reina, who made a poor error to let Argentina’s Carlos Tevez score against him when in goal for Spain on Tuesday, admitted losing Mascherano to Barcelona is a big blow to the club.

The goalkeeper admitted: “Javier is very competitive, very Argentinian and he always offers his maximum in every game. For Barca this is a good new thing, but it’s not for us.

“He was not someone who got into controversy. He never caused rows in the dressing room. He was good on the pitch, broke up counter-attacks and now we need other players with his characteristics.”

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Fabio Capello

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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