• Premier League

Sturridge: We want to win it for Gerrard

ESPN staff
April 2, 2014
ESPN FC discusses Liverpool's title credentials

Daniel Sturridge has revealed that Liverpool's players are being driven on by the prospect of ending captain Steven Gerrard's career-long wait for a Premier League title.

Gerrard has been a first-team player at Anfield for more than 15 years, having made his senior debut for the club in December 1998.

The Reds have finished runners-up twice in that time, to Arsenal in 2002 and Manchester United in 2009, without winning the league.

Fans could sway title race

  • Liverpool's games against Manchester City and Chelsea in April will define their season. Michael Beattie looks back at their record at Anfield against their Premier League title rivals.
  • Click here to continue reading

England captain Gerrard, a graduate of the youth set-up at Anfield, could arguably have lifted the title by now had he moved elsewhere, revealing last November that Manchester United tried to sign him in 2002 before Chelsea made unsuccessful approaches in 2005 and 2006.

But the 33-year-old midfielder has always maintained that winning the Premier League with Liverpool would mean far more to him than doing so anywhere else.

And with six games to go, Brendan Rodgers' side are two points clear at the top, with a chance to become champions of England for the first time since 1990.

Sturridge is one of only three players at Liverpool with a Premier League champions' medal, which he earned with Chelsea in 2010. The 24-year-old England striker believes that Gerrard would be a worthy title-winning captain if his side were to see the job through this season.

Sturridge told the Daily Telegraph: "There's no more appropriate man to lift the trophy. If we win it, Stevie really deserves it. He should win the Premier League because of everything he has done for this club. Every player in this team will do their best to help him achieve that goal.

"He's just unbelievable every day, a great leader. He lives for this club, he's been here his whole career and it's just a great pleasure to be able to play with him.

"Stevie will always be a legend not just for Liverpool, but to England as well. He will definitely go down in history as one of the best midfielders in the game, never mind just this club."

Sturridge, Glen Johnson and Kolo Toure are the three members of Rodgers' squad to have won the Premier League.

Full-back Johnson did so with Chelsea in 2005, while Toure was a winner with Arsenal in 2004 and Manchester City in 2012.

Liverpool's 4-0 win over Tottenham on Sunday was an eighth straight Premier League victory, and maximum points from their six remaining matches would guarantee the title. It would also set a club record of 14 straight league wins, beating their current best of 12 in a row, set between April and October 1990.

Sturridge acknowledges that managing such a feat is asking a lot.

"There are still six games to go, every one of them huge, so we will not get too excited just yet," said Sturridge. "The important thing is just to keep working hard as a team and if we do that, I am sure we will continue to get the results."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd
ESPN staff Close