Stuart Pearce insists Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard will leave English football with his reputation intact at the end of the season.Gerrard’s dream exit of playing his last game for the Reds on his 35th birthday in the FA Cup final at Wembley was ended in the 2-1 semi-final defeat to Aston Villa at the same venue.The England international, with 114 caps for his country, departs Anfield at the end of the campaign to play in Major League Soccer for Los Angeles Galaxy.In his 17 years as a first-team player for Liverpool, Gerrard won the Champions League, UEFA Cup, the FA Cup twice and the League Cup on three occasions.Although Gerrard’s hopes of bowing out on a high with a victory over Arsenal were dashed on Sunday, Pearce believes the player will be remembered for the success he has achieved.
Stuart Pearce said: “I think the romantic in all of us would have liked to have seen him play in an FA Cup final and lift the trophy for Liverpool. Football is a hard-nosed profession, it’s not like that.The one thing you do know about Steven Gerrard when he finishes his time in English football, he’s been a Premier League legend, he’s been an English legend both at club and country level and he’s lifted the Champions League for his club.
The Reds won six on the spin across competitions, but they conceded at least a goal in five of these six matches. They also failed to keep a single clean sheet in last 19 games against the Blues. Knowing Chelsea have inspired Eden Hazard leading the line, we do fancy the BTTS bet at 1.75 odds.Braver punters can try with Hazard to score anytime at 3.10. Chelsea’s problem are performances on the road as they lost four of past six away matches in the Premier League, beating only the likes of Fulham and Cardiff City (both narrowly) in the process.