Brendan Rodgers would not have looked out of place at the Bernabeu, according to Tim Sherwood

Tim Sherwood claims Liverpool are lucky to have under-fire boss Brendan Rodgers, insisting he could have managed Real Madrid if the Reds won the league two seasons ago.

The Aston Villa manager has defended Rodgers amid growing pressure on him following his side's poor start to the season.

Villa face Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday looking to pile the misery on Rodgers, who has seen his side earn just eight points from six games to sit seven points off the top of the Premier League.

Rodgers, who took Liverpool to second in the league in 2014, has vowed to fight for his future at the club and Sherwood is adamant he remains a top manager.

"After that season, they finished second. If they'd won the league, could they have kept hold of Brendan Rodgers?" he said. "They would have tried everything - and they did. He signed a new contract after that.

Liverpool finished two points behind Man City in the race for the 2013/14 Premier League title

"All of a sudden, he doesn't turn into a bad manager, it's fine margins. We might have seen him at Real Madrid.

"Why wouldn't we have seen him there? He'd have won the English Premier League with a team who hasn't won it for God knows how many years.

It's harder to be a manager now than 20 years ago with social media and faceless people having their opinions. Tim Sherwood

"He would have been the hottest property in football. A week is a long time in this game, let alone a year. Because they got so close, it intensifies the pressure. He's paying the price for overachieving a couple of seasons ago.

"It's harder to be a manager now than 20 years ago with social media and faceless people having their opinions. There's more pundits than players."