Aston Villa have £9m incentive to help Liverpool win Premier League title

There is almost £9million riding on Aston Villa's final day bout with Premier League title favourites Manchester City.

Steven Gerrard's team completed their Villa Park campaign with a 1-1 draw against Burnley on Thursday night. Burnley took the lead in first half stoppage time through Ashley Barnes’ penalty, but Emiliano Buendia levelled matters in the 48th minute to ensure the spoils were shared.

Fourteenth-placed Villa go into Sunday's match at The Etihad as huge underdogs. Pep Guardiola's City side, which includes former Villa captain Jack Grealish, needs a victory to guarantee the title.

However, anything other than victory for City would open the door for Liverpool to reclaim top spot. Liverpool are at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers in their final fixture.

Liverpool are relying on Gerrard, Philippe Coutinho and Co to do them a favour. But there's plenty riding on the game for Villa too.

Villa can still finish 10th in the Premier League if they defeat City and results elsewhere go their way. A 10th-placed finish would see Villa earn £24.2m in merit payments, in comparison to the £15.4m the club stands to earn by finishing 14th. The merit payments go up roughly £2.2m per place, meaning there's almost a £9m difference between finishing 14th and 10th for Villa.