Steven Gerrard has rubbished claims that Aston Villa have nothing to play for in their final two games of the Premier League season but also suggested he may field two very different sides.
That is music to the ears of Liverpool supporters, who need the Midlands club to do a number on Manchester City on the final day of the season in order to wrestle the title away from them. Despite languishing in midtable, Villa have found themselves in a position where they can have a big say in finalising matters at both ends of the table.
First, they will host relegation-threatened Burnley on Thursday at Villa Park before facing off against Pep Guardiola's side on Sunday , who can clinch a fourth title in five years if they beat Villa, regardless of how Liverpool do against Wolverhampton Wanderers. But when it was put to Gerrard in his press conference on Wednesday that Villa's opponents have far more to play for than themselves, the former Anfield captain was having none of it.
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“No they haven’t. No they haven’t,” said Gerrard. A reporter argued: "“A relegation and a title?” Gerrard responded: “Well, maybe from their point of view but I’m not involved in a relegation or a title, am I? I’m the Aston Villa manager. They’re three important points. We’ll have a full house there. We’ve got 20,000 people on a waiting list to come and watch the team so it’s my responsibility to win both games. Thank you.”
The turnaround between Villa's last two final matches of the season is far from ideal, with just three days between them. But with such a huge match against Manchester City on Sunday, Gerrard offered some hope to the Liverpool supporters who worshipped him by indicating he will field two widely different sides against Burnley and City, suggesting a stronger side for the final game of the season.
Gerrard said: “We want two positive results. We want to finish as strong as we can and we want to improve our league position. Obviously, they’re going to be two different challenges, we know that, one fighting at the top-end of the league and one at the bottom. We need to prepare for both in the best way that we can. They’re coming within a short space of time so all of my players need to be ready because I’ll be very surprised if the team will be the same for both games.”
Liverpool kept hopes of snatching the title from City on the final day alive by beating Southampton at St Mary's on Tuesday evening. Sitting one point behind the Sky Blues, but with an inferior goal difference, the Reds must beat Wolves at Anfield on Sunday and then hope that Gerrard's Villa can pull off a shock result that would hand the Reds the title and keep the incredible charge towards the quadruple alive once more.
