Steven Gerrard could find himself under pressure if his Aston Villa side continue their poor start against Everton, according to Gabby Agbonglahor.
The former Liverpool captain will face an old foe in the Toffees this Saturday and stand in the opposite dugout to ex-England teammate Frank Lampard for the first time. And a busy summer window at Villa Park - signing Phillipe Coutinho, Diego Carlos and Boubacar Kamara - has encouraged lofty expectations for this season.
But a poor performance in last weekend’s 2-0 defeat at newly-promoted Bournemouth has the former Anfield legend in a difficult spot after just one game. And ex-Villa striker Agbonglahor believes the home crowd could turn on their manager this Saturday if Everton take the lead.
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“He’s got a squad of players where he’s got a bit of a headache,” Agbonglahor told talkSPORT Breakfast . “You know when you’ve got options as a manager; he could play Emi Buendia or Philippe Coutinho, Ollie Watkins or Danny Ings and Leon Bailey’s been in good form in pre-season.
“He’ll know that Aston Villa need to be finishing in the top 10 this season. It'll be a great game on Saturday against Everton at home to get a result, but that Villa crowd, if we go 1-0 down they’ll be ready to turn after the Bournemouth game.
“Aston Villa should be finishing in the top 10 with that squad of players. He’s been given the money. He’s got Coutinho, another centre-half and another centre-midfielder in Kamara. He’s been given money to spend and that squad of players should be competing and finishing in the top 10.
“He’ll know that he’ll be under pressure if he doesn’t deliver that. The board have pumped a lot of money into Aston Villa Football Club, they’re bettering the stadium and the academy has had money pumped into it, so Steven Gerrard knows that Aston Villa need to finish in the top 10 and in two season to be looking at getting into those European places.”
Toffees boss Lampard will be desperate to bounce back from an opening-day defeat of his own after his side lost 1-0 at home to Chelsea. And the former Chelsea man will have no problems piling the pressure on a former international teammate, especially given Gerrard’s rivalry with Everton.
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