Steven Gerrard warns his players to be wary of football's dark arts

Steven Gerrard has warned Aston Villa to avoid falling for football’s dark arts when they face Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Palace’s last game ended in a 1-1 draw at Liverpool after Reds forward Darwin Nunez was sent off for butting Eagles defender Joachim Andersen.

Gerrard acknowledged that every team tries to gain an edge by any means and urged his players to be alive to it.

‘We have to be prepared for gamesmanship,’ said Gerrard. ‘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.’

Gerrard will be without Diego Carlos, who has had surgery on the Achilles tendon he damaged against Everton last weekend, but Villa are confident their £26million defender will play again this season.

They are keen to sign cover in this window, though, especially if Kortney Hause joins Watford on loan.