Steven Gerrard, according to Gabby Agbonlahor, will be unconcerned about Liverpool’s title hopes when he leads Aston Villa against Manchester City on the last day of the season. Gerrard’s former side will be aiming for a win against Wolves and a result for Villa at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday as this would guarantee the Reds the Premier League title.
With only one game remaining, Liverpool are one point behind Manchester City, but Agbonlahor insists Gerrard will not be thinking about the title race.
In an interview with talkSPORT, the former Villa striker said:
“Forget about him being one of Liverpool’s best ever players and he loves Liverpool, forget about trying to stop Manchester City winning the league, he wants his team to improve every game.
“They have been poor this season to the standards that he would want, he said they have underperformed. He is not looking at these two games as ‘I want to help any team’ he is looking at them as ‘I want to get six points to get myself further up the table and keep improving next season’.
“He knows that the owners have invested money, they are going to invest money in the summer, being mid-table is not acceptable, they are going to want to get into the top six.”
With a home match against Burnley on Thursday, Gerrard and Aston Villa will be involved in both the title race and the relegation battle. Aston Villa are presently 14th in the Premier League table.
Villa and Gerrard are coming off a 1-1 stalemate with Crystal Palace at the end of the season. Ollie Watkins overcame an injury worry to start and open the scoring before Jeffrey Shlupp equalized with nine minutes remaining.
When Gerrard stated in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday that his team does have something to play for, it must have been music to Liverpool’s ears. When told that Villa’s opponents have more on the line than his team, Gerrard responded:
“No they haven’t. No they haven’t.”
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 am the Aston Villa manager. They are three important points. We will have a full house there. We have got 20,000 people on a waiting list to come and watch the team so it’s my responsibility to win both games.”
