Roy Hodgson to tie up Javier Mascherano for Europe

Argentinian Mascherano tweaked a muscle during his outstanding display in the 1-1 draw with Arsenal on Sunday but is expected to be fit to make his first European appearance of the season for the Reds.

Any action tomorrow night would cup-tie Mascherano from any involvement for another club in the Europa League and, more pertinently, prevent him from participating in the Champions League.

Former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has been linked all summer with a move for Mascherano, who has made no secret of his desire to leave Anfield.

The signing of Mario Balotelli by Manchester City this week looked to have paved the way for a £20million bid for Mascherano from Inter Milan – although the surprise £25million signing of Genoa’s Giuseppe Sculli in a similar position suggests interest has waned.

Barcelona, instead, are the latest club to be linked with his signature, with Lionel Messi saying: “He has the quality to play for Barcelona and his character would fit perfectly with the club.”

But by ruling him out of action for both clubs’ most important games, Hodgson is set to make a statement that he will not allow his star names to be cherry-picked without a fight.

Hodgson, who last night completed the £2.3m signing of understudy goalkeeper Brad Jones from Middlesbrough, believes Mascherano is the perfect foil for new signing Christian Poulsen, who watched Sunday’s game from the Anfield stands.

“I don’t want to let Javier go and at the moment he has shown no signs of going,” said Hodgson. “I believe Javier Mascherano is going to play for us and I believe Christian Poulsen is going to play for us.

“We can have both players. This is a big club and a club with a lot of games to play this year hopefully. Christian is a quality player and we want quality players.

“He is a good passer and supporter. He will fit in nicely with the way we try to play. We try to play football through the midfield and Liverpool have always been a passing team; there is going to be no change to the style, whether it is me or someone else is manager.”

Joe Cole will be available despite missing the next three domestic games after his sending-off against the Gunners and while there is little optimism about Liverpool’s ability to mount a realistic challenge in the Premier League, striker Dirk Kuyt believes Europe can once again be a happy hunting ground for Liverpool.

“We were really close to winning the Europa League last season,” he said. “We are all here to win trophies and if we could win it, then it would be a massive trophy for all the lads.” Slovakian Martin Skrtel is being handed a new contract by Liverpool.

Central defender Skrtel, 25, has been rewarded with a two-year extension to his existing deal, which was signed when he arrived from Zenit St Petersburg in January 2008. Skrtel started alongside Jamie Carragher in the 1-1 draw against Arsenal.