Jamie Carragher believes Liverpool have what it takes to mount a top-four challenge this season.

The former Reds defender will be part of Sky Sports' punditry team when the 2013-14 campaign gets underway in August.

He will line up alongside the likes of Gary Neville, Graeme Souness and Jamie Redknapp in the studio.

And Carragher expects Brendan Rodgers' side to build on last season and push for a Champions League spot.

"I think Liverpool and Tottenham will be vying with Arsenal to get that fourth place," he told Sky Sports.

"It's not set in stone who will finish up there at the moment and certainly Liverpool have got to run them a lot closer than they did last season or the year before.

"There's no reason why Liverpool or Tottenham can't get in that space because it's so tight between those teams.

"I certainly expect an improvement from Liverpool this season."

Carragher will operate predominantly on Sky's Monday Night Football show alongside former Manchester United full-back Neville.

The two had their moments on the field in the heat of so many Liverpool v United battles.

However, Carragher insists he'll aim to remain level-headed when it comes to analysing crunch clashes for the Reds.

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"I'll be impartial," he said. "I'm sure I'll still have a bit about me that would love Liverpool to win and I don't think people would expect me to say differently.

"I want to do this as well as I can and the only way to do this is by being honest and by giving the opinions that I feel at that time.

"I'm on the other side of the fence now, but I'm still getting the same feelings - but not just about Liverpool now. It's about other teams and what games I could do and what I could bring to the table. It's exciting."

Steven Gerrard told Liverpoolfc.com earlier this week that he expects friendly criticism from Carragher when the Bootle boy is assigned his first Liverpool games next season.

And when asked how he felt about offering constructive criticism to his former teammates, Carragher responded with: "When that happened on the pitch I'd criticise them anyway, so it won't make that much difference doing it in the TV studio really!

"Liverpool was a big part of my life and still will be for the rest of my life, but I've got a job to do and I'll try and do it the best that I can."