Steven George Gerrard MBE (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player who manages Scottish Premiership club Rangers.
He spent the majority of his playing career as a central midfielder for Liverpool, with most of that time spent as club captain, as well as captaining the England national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time,
Gerrard was awarded the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year award in 2005, and the Ballon d'Or Bronze Award. In 2009, Zinedine Zidane and Pelé said that they considered Gerrard to be the best footballer in the world.
Manchester City will encounter the Steven Gerrard factor when they take on Aston Villa on Wednesday night. Having earned victories in each of his two games since replacing Dean Smith at the helm, the Liverpool great is set to lock horns with Pep Guardiola and his star-studded team.
City are within a point of table-topping Chelsea as they prepare for the Villa Park showdown. However, the Premier League champions could be without Kevin de Bruyne, Phil Foden and £100million man Jack Grealish - although there is some hope that the star trio might feature.
Grealish was, of course, signed from Villa during the summer transfer window and this fixture would mark his return to his beloved, hometown club.
Read more on manchestereveningnews.co.uk