Steven Gerrard makes strong claim over ‘ruthless’ Aston Villa performance

Goals from Emiliano Buendia, Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings confirmed all three points for the visitors. A consolation goal from Maxwel Cornet wasn’t enough for Burnley to claim anything from the match, as they saw their survival chances take a hit. However, Gerrard was focused on his own side as they looked comfortable once again away from home.

Speaking to BBC Match of the Day, Gerrard said: “I’m very pleased. It was a really strong away performance; we were better in every department against a side who have taken 10 out of 12 points.”

“This is a tough place to come so my players deserve a lot of credit. We have been a really strong away team in the main; when our moments come, we’ve proved we can be ruthless.”

After taking the lead seven minutes in, Villa never looked in danger of dropping points at Turf Moor.

And Gerrard went on to say he believes this was one of the strongest performances he’s seen while in charge of Villa.

“This was up there with our best. We’ve been indifferent at home, so we know what we need to work on.”

Their next game comes midweek against title-chasing Liverpool, who will be desperate for a win as they hunt down Manchester City.

A legend at Anfield, it’s expected that the Villa boss will have mixed emotions heading into such an important clash.

However, Gerrard insisted his side are in good form at the moment – and expects his squad to carry that into the Liverpool game.

“There should be a freshness about us because we only play once a week; the lads have prepared well.

“We’re in a good place and we’ve got a tough game on Tuesday [against Liverpool] but we’ll make a couple of changes and rest up to make sure the team is ready.

“It is about enjoying tonight; it puts us closer to where we want