Steven Gerrard denies he is extra motivated to beat Man City to help Liverpool win the title

Steven Gerrard hopes Aston Villa can exploit the pressure on Manchester City on Sunday to earn the result that could hand the title to former club Liverpool.

Victory for City will secure their fourth Premier League crown in four years, yet anything less than that – coupled with a win for Liverpool over Wolves – would give the Reds their third trophy of the campaign and keep them on course for an unprecedented Quadruple.

Gerrard never won the league as a player at Anfield and though he says it would be ‘fantastic’ if Liverpool pipped City, he is frustrated at suggestions that it will give him extra motivation.

Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa are set to take on Manchester City on the final day of the season

City are aiming for their fourth Premier League title under Pep Guardiola

‘I totally understand and respect the external noise and the questions that have been coming my way,’ said Gerrard. ‘They’re involved in a title race, and I spent a lot of time there.

‘It is disappointing when people mention integrity and aim it towards me or Aston Villa or any of my players. We’ll go out at the weekend and give it everything we’ve got to try and get points for Aston Villa and our supporters.

‘If that inevitably helps Liverpool, fantastic. But my priority is to try to get points for Aston Villa. City have world-class players and a top manager, but there is a lot of pressure on them at the weekend.

‘We will go there as best prepared as we can and try and make it as difficult as we can. Why? Because we want to be in a better place than 14th and we need some more points.

‘If we manage to get something from Manchester City, we should enjoy that. If we can improve our position of 14th, I’ll be extremely happy.’

Gerrard has admitted it would be ‘fantastic’ if his side can help Liverpool win the title