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Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez believes talismanic captain Steven Gerrard could return in Saturday's clash at Fulham.

The England midfielder has not featured in the Premier League since suffering a groin injury while on international duty earlier this month.

He did start in the 2-1 UEFA Champions League loss against Lyon on 20th October, but had to be substituted after only 25 minutes following tightness in his groin.

He is definitely out of the Carling Cup clash against Arsenal on Wednesday - which is being shown live on Sky Sports 2 and Sky Sports HD2 at 7.45pm - but Benitez is hopeful he can return for the Premier League game at Craven Cottage.

Benitez told the club's official website: "Gerrard will not be available for this game but he is improving, so hopefully he can be ready for Saturday."

Liverpool came as close as they have done in many years last season to finally winning the Premier League title. But the Reds' drought in lifting the league crown still stretches back to 1990.

Few would deny that it was captain Steven Gerrard and striker Fernando Torres who were instrumental in the Merseyside club coming within a whisker of beating Manchester to the league crown last term.

Both, however, suffered injuries in the first-half of the season and veteran centre-back Jamie Carragher believes that should the duo remain fit, the club will once again be very close to finishing on top.

"No other team in England has a partnership like Gerrard and Torres," Carragher told the club’s website.

"It's strange to be talking about Stevie as a striker now but that's what he's become, and in that position, just behind the main forward, there is no one better," added Carragher, ambitiously.

"In fact, there is no better strike pairing in the world than Gerrard and Torres. They can tear defences wide open in a split second.

"When you have that kind of ability in your team, it gives you incredible belief. If we can keep them both free of injury, then we are going to take some stopping. There were times last year when we went into games without them and it showed.

"It was great to see them both sign new contracts this summer - they are the most important players in our team.

"If they stay fit and continue to improve, then I think we will go very close. We all hope this will be our year, but we'll have to play as well as we did last season and turn the draws that damaged us into wins.

Steven Gerrard has been included in a shortlist for the UEFA Club Player of the Year award.

The Liverpool captain is one of twelve players in the list for the prestigious award which will be presented in a ceremony on August 27th (when the Champions League group draw is also made).

The award is decided by the votes of the managers of the final 16 teams in last season’s Champions League competition.

Gerrard has already won the award before, receiving the honour for the 2004/05 season when he triumphantly lead the Reds to Champions League glory in Istanbul.

The previous winner of the award was Christiano Ronaldo, playing for Manchester Utd at the time.

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has revealed that he is desperate to claim the league title with the Reds and has insisted that finishing top of the pile would mean the world to him.

The Merseysiders begin their new campaign against Tottenham Hotspur this afternoon, with their star man admitted time is running out for him to add a Premier League winner’s medal to his collection.

“I'm desperate to get that photo of me with my teammates holding the Premier League trophy,” he told the News of the World.

“It does play on my mind how many years I've left to win it. I've turned 29 now, so I know time isn't on my side, but it's important I don't get obsessed by it.”

Rafael Benitez’s side will be hoping to build on last season’s second place finish and their skipper revealed what it would mean to him and the city of Liverpool to end the season as champions.

“You have to go into every new season prepared to do all you can to make it happen and I genuinely believe we can do it. This city would absolutely erupt if we did,” he explained.

“But because of the gap since we last won the title, if we achieve it, it would be bigger than the Champions League. Everyone at the club knows that and that's one of the incentives for doing everything to win it because we've seen what that kind of success means to the fans, and the players.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is still unsure of Steven Gerrard's availability ahead of the club's first game of the season, which is against Tottenham Hotspur.

The Reds travel to White Hart Lane on Sunday to kick off their new Premier League campaign, with their star man struggling with a groin problem.

'Rafa' believes the game being scheduled as the latest of the opening weekend does give Gerrard a chance to play, however.

"I am not sure about Steven," Benitez said, according to Sky Sports News.

"I was really pleased he was pulled out of the England squad as a precaution.

"With our game on the Sunday, then maybe Steven will have a chance. If it was on Saturday it would be more difficult."

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has put pen to paper on the contract extension which will keep him at the Anfield club until at least 2013.

The 29-year-old agreed the deal back in April but signed it on returning to training following the summer break.

Manager Rafael Benitez told the club website: "We have spent this summer trying to secure the players we have.

"It's really good to keep Kuyt, Torres, Agger, Benayoun and Steven. They are the here and now of the club."

He added: "We are really pleased. We have a lot of good players who want to stay, to win and compete.

"The message has to be the same again this year - to be there, to be contenders and to fight. If we can win trophies it would be fantastic."

The midfielder signed his first professional deal with Liverpool as a 17-year-old and has said he is determined to remain at Anfield until he retires.

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard is one of the few remaining one-club-men, and is intent on retiring as one, as he has today claimed that he could seek retirement when his current deal expires in 2013.

Gerrard has just come off the back of one of his most productive seasons to date, as Rafael Benitez deployed the versatile midfielder in an elevated position, behind the striker, and the results were often devastating as the England international scored 24 times in 41 appearances; a goal return befitting any forward.

"I will be 33 at the end of my contract in 2013 and I don't know if I will go any further," Gerrard confirmed to France-Football.

"If I do retire, then I will know that from the start to the end of my career I only had one club. And I don't want to think about wearing any other shirt in the future.

"I was close to leaving in the past, maybe twice, most notably in 2005," he added. "That year we [Liverpool] were a long way off the Premier League title and Chelsea's interest turned my head.

"It was a difficult moment for me. However, now when I look back I am very happy that I chose to stay here. It has given me real pride."

Steven Gerrard is already looking ahead to next season and has stated his desire to lift the World Cup after helping guide Liverpool to the Premier League title.

"We've got one chance maybe, one last crack at the title if Arsenal do us a favour at the weekend," he told Sky Sports News.

"If it's not to be there's certainly been progression made. It's been an enjoyable experience being in the title race.

"From a Liverpool point of view there's been a lot of progression made. It's been fantastic to be involved in a title race and to close on the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United and run them all the way.

"If I can go on and get involved in another title race and I'll be looking to maybe try and go one better and win it.

"It'll be a fantastic feeling in and around the city and then hopefully I can take that confidence into the World Cup and try and progress past the quarter-finals. That is my best so far, so if we can go to a semi-final or a final it would be a massive achievement.

"It would probably be the best year of my career without a shadow of a doubt to win the league and win the World Cup. That's the stuff that dreams are made of.

"There's a lot of hard work and hurdles to get over before I can achieve that. That's certainly the ambition and the dream."