Monday 5 March 2018 23:55, UK
Who should be England's World Cup goalkeeper? Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville discuss on Monday Night Football...
Everton's Pickford and Stoke keeper Butland have been battling it out for the number one jersey this season with Joe Hart, who featured regularly for Gareth Southgate's side during their unbeaten qualification campaign for the World Cup in Russia.
However, Hart, who is on loan from Manchester City, has not featured in the Premier League for West Ham since November following after enduring a tough start to the season and Carragher thinks Pickford has just edged ahead of Hart and Butland in the race for the number one jersey.
"Sadly it's between Pickford and Butland," the former England defender told Monday Night Football. "When I say sadly it's because they are two young goalkeepers without much experience.
"It's very difficult to put Joe Hart in, one, because he's not playing, and two, he's not playing very well when he has been playing wither at West Ham or on loan at Torino last season.
"I think I'd go slightly towards Pickford. I've seen Butland make some big mistakes."
With the uncertainty of England's number one goalkeeper, Butland has called on Southgate to name his starting keeper ahead of the tournament and Carragher agrees with the 24-year-old, using the example of Fabio Capello's use of Rob Green and David James at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
He said: "I think it's a really tough decision for Gareth Southgate.
"I remember going to the World Cup with Capello and he left the decision to the day before, maybe even the day of the game.
"David James was there, Rob Green was in goal and Joe Hart was in the squad. None of the goalkeepers knew who was going to start in goal.
"Rob Green then made that huge error and David James went straight in for the next game. A World Cup is not the place to rotate a goalkeeper and the fact they had to change the goalkeeper in the second game was all wrong."
Meanwhile, Gary Neville thinks Pickford is a talented goalkeeper but thinks a starting berth at the World Cup could be a step too far for him at this early stage of his career.
Neville would instead start with Butland but insists Hart should be a real consideration should he win his place back at West Ham
"It's a massive problem when you are rotating your goalkeepers," he told MNF. "It's a massive, massive problem.
"We've seen it this season at Liverpool with Loris Karius and Simon Mignolet and there was a period at United when Tim Howard and Roy Carroll were being rotated and you just never felt safe or comfortable.
"As a player you always wanted to know who your goalkeeper was. They steady everyone in the stadium. I've always said a goalkeeper can unnerve a whole stadium if the goalkeeper is nervous himself. If I'm looking at the decision of Pickford or Butland, I don't know who Gareth will pick and I don't envy his decision.
He added: "You could consider Joe Hart and if he gets back into the team he has to be a real consideration because a World Cup is not for messing around in terms of trialling a goalkeeper.
"If you look at Pickford he's never been to a tournament and you might say he's young but a World Cup is a brutal place to learn. If you think about how unforgiving it is in terms of the travelling, the expectation and the adrenaline.
"Butland's been to a couple of tournaments, he's sat on the sidelines, he's watched, he has seen how it can be and how difficult it can be. I would say I'd edge towards Butland based on the fact of letting Pickford watch a tournament.
"He's got talent but don't kill it in the first tournament. Pickford's a big talent but he's got some maturing to do. He's a young goalkeeper who is learning on the job and the Premier League is a harsh environment."
