Steven Gerrard has warned his Aston Villa players to be wary of the dark arts in football when they play Crystal Palace this afternoon after the sending off for Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez.
Palace earned themselves a point in a 1-1 draw at Anfield on Monday, but the match was not without controversy as Liverpool new boy was shown a red card for a headbutt on defender Joachim Andersen.
Although Nunez's red card was deserved, it became apparent in a video published on social media that Andersen had made it his mission to wind the Uruguayan up in the game at Anfield.
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Before his Villa charges take on Patrick Vieira's Palace, Gerrard acknowledged that every team in the Premier League tries to gain an edge, but he wants his side to be alive to it at Selhurst Park.
Gerrard said in his pre-match press conference: "We have to be prepared for gamesmanship. It happens at the top level of football. Players try and gain any kind of advantage, we do it ourselves.
"I’ve got no problem with that but we have to be prepared to go there and play with discipline. It's important we keep 11 men on the pitch at all times. It’s difficult enough with 11 players so we don't need any unnecessary incidents where we go down to 10 men.
"The players will be prepared for every eventuality and it’s up to them to make sure they perform with discipline and contribute to the best way to win. If you're not ready for it, you fall into the trap and you get a three-game ban. This is not a case of saying defenders are at it because there are a lot of streetwise forwards out there.
"The clear thing is that you can't get away with those sort of reactions any more with more cameras and VAR. You’ve got to be really careful with your reaction.
"You might not be at fault initially. But your reaction can get you into big trouble as well."
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