After six-and-a-half years away, Steven Gerrard is back in the Premier League following his move to Aston Villa from Scottish Premiership champions Rangers on Thursday.
The 41-year-old is one of the pre-eminent figures in the Premier League‘s 29-year history having made 504 appearances in the competition, scoring 120 goals and providing 92 assists, all in the colours of his beloved Liverpool where he was a first-team player for 17 years. Gerrard was also named the PFA Player of the Year in 2005-06 and named in the Premier League Team of the Year for a record eight times.
Unfortunately, for Gerrard, Liverpool’s one and only Premier League title win to date came five years after he had left the club as a player in 2020, although he did get his hands on two FA Cups, three League Cups, a Uefa Cup and, most memorably, the Champions League in 2005 during his time as a Red. In total, he played 710 times for the club, a total only bettered by Ian Callaghan and former team-mate Jamie Carragher.
It is that distinguished history with Liverpool that has seen Gerrard earmarked as a future manager of the club, potentially as Jurgen Klopp’s successor with the German’s contract set to expire at the end of the 2023-24 season.
Gerrard began his coaching career with Liverpool after seeing out his playing career with LA Galaxy, taking charge of the U18 team in the 2017-18 campaign, prior to becoming Rangers manager. He enjoyed a successful spell north of the border, leading Rangers to an unbeaten league season as they won the Scottish Premiership title last term, ending Celtic’s nine-year dominance of the competition in the process.
Having impressed in his first senior managerial role, Gerrard will now be looking to make a positive impression at Aston Villa after succeeding Dean Smith in the dugout. Villa have endured a difficult start to the season, losing seven of their opening 11 league matches, including their last five in a row.
Gerrard’s first game is against Brighton on Saturday 20 November at Villa Park following the conclusion of the international break, with his first return to Anfield as an opposing manager to follow soon after.
After facing Brighton, Villa will play Crystal Palace, Manchester City and Leicester City in the league, before Gerrard takes his squad to his old stomping ground on Saturday 11 December, in what will be his fifth match in charge.
Since their promotion to the Premier League in 2019, Villa have lost three of their four league meetings against Liverpool, although they memorably beat them 7-2 at Villa Park in October last year, with Ollie Watkins scoring a hat-trick.
How to watch Liverpool vs Aston Villa
- Date: Saturday 11 December
- Kick-off-time: 3pm
- TV: The game will not be shown on live TV, but the full game will be shown on Sky Sports’ Game of the Day after full-time
- Highlights: Match of the Day on BBC One
Those hoping to catch Gerrard’s homecoming on UK television will be left disappointed, however, as neither Sky Sports or BT Sport has live broadcasting rights for the game, with the game scheduled to kick-off at 3pm.
The 3pm blackout, introduced in the 1960s as a means to protect live attendances lower down the English football pyramid, means that fans not in attendance will not be able to watch the game. There was a similar instance earlier in the season when Cristiano Ronaldo’s second debut for Manchester United against Newcastle was not shown on live television.
Supporters not at Anfield will have to wait until later in the evening to watch the full game back on Sky Sports’ Game of the Day programme or else catch highlights on BBC One’s Match of the Day.
The live games on Saturday 11 December are Manchester City vs Wolves on BT Sport in the lunchtime kick-off and Norwich City vs Manchester United on Sky Sports in the evening.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3wDCyNY
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