Before that, however, Gerrard is feverish over the diet of aggressive, forward-thinking football he’ll be able to dine on with Liverpool and Manchester City colliding in the Champions League quarter-finals on April 4 and 10. “Those games can’t come quick enough for me to be able to analyse it on BT Sport. It’s the kind of unmissable match you genuinely get enthusiastic about and can learn so much from," he offers.

“It’s top-class footballers looking to go toe-to-toe with each other in a very dominant, attacking style under two hugely respected managers who have very clear philosophies. It’s an exciting draw for both teams and both will believe they can progress through to the semis. We’ve seen some amazing games of football between them recently, and from a neutral point of view, I think it’s a 50-50 tie: City have shown their unbelievable quality this season and Liverpool have proven they can better any team in a game - including City.

“Now from a biased point of view, I’ve got every confidence that Jurgen Klopp and the team can deliver over both legs because they’ve shown they can do it. The manager’s got a great record in Europe, he knows Pep Guardiola well, and the opposition inside out.”

There have been attempts to paint the fixture with the same brush strokes as the Liverpool-Chelsea rivalry of the previous decade, but Gerrard - core to those contests - does not concur with such a portrayal.

“It will be completely different,” he argues. “For me, the only similarity is that it will be two domestic teams battling on the Champions League stage. We played Chelsea three times in the semis, once in the quarter-finals and the group stage.

“Their style under Jose Mourinho was disciplined and tactical, which was like Liverpool’s under Rafa Benitez so it was a more cagey affair and the teams would often cancel each other out (there were only three goals scored in six continental meetings while both those managers were in the dugout).

“Under Jurgen and Pep, with attack the emphasis of both teams and both wanting to take the initiative and dominate, it offers more as a spectacle.

“I think it’s a tie full of respect in terms of the players and the managers. They’ve both been on the right and wrong end of results in these fixtures, which have been quite intense. It would be very silly for any individual involved to show disrespect or be complacent heading into a two-legged game of this magnitude.

“They’re the two most attacking teams in the Premier League and the best to watch - I’d put Tottenham in that category as well - and having listened to both managers speak about these games before, the mutual admiration is quite clear.

“The only thing is, everyone in the build-up to this tie is talking about and expecting loads of goals. I’m wondering whether either manager tries something different. That will be quite interesting, and I’m very intrigued by the tactical choices that will be made. Will it be, as previously the case, to just go for it? Or because of the two-legged situation and how important the result is, I wonder whether one or even both choose to come off the gas a bit and offer a little more caution?”