England and Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard will return to his former club | football

Gerrard, 44, is under huge pressure at Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq, who have slipped to 12th in the table after winning just three of their opening 12 league games.

The Anfield hero took up the job in Saudi Arabia in the summer of 2023 and signed a two-year contract extension in January to keep him at the club until 2027.

But Al-Ettifaq are reportedly considering Gerrard’s sacking after poor performances have left the club just four points above the relegation zone.

Gerrard is regarded as one of the best midfielders in Premier League history despite never winning a title during his 16 years at Liverpool.

He was one of the country’s standout players for more than a decade and made 114 appearances for England – the fourth most in history behind David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and Peter Shilton.

Since retiring in 2016, Gerrard has managed Scottish giants Rangers, Premier League club Aston Villa and Saudi side Al-Ettifaq.

Rangers have lost ground since their record-breaking campaign and are now third in the table, 12 points behind early leaders Aberdeen after just 10 games.

Gers manager Philippe Clement is facing the sack after his team’s poor performance and former England midfielder Danny Murphy is refusing to rule out the possibility of Gerrard returning to Ibrox.

“I think it’s hard to replicate what Steven Gerrard did at Rangers before because he struggled,” former Premier League star Murphy told Boylesports, who offer the latest Champions League odds.

‘The squad is shorter than Celtic and the gap has widened since he left.

“But he is a determined man who wants to work hard and if he goes back there and wins the league again and beats Celtic again, it will be a great achievement.

‘It’s hard to see him come back but never say anything.’

Rangers will look to produce a good performance on Saturday evening when they play host to struggling Hearts.

“We keep hearing Clement and the players say they can still compete for the title. Now it’s hard to see them even competing for a second time.

“The club is out of the park now without a permanent chairman, without a chief executive and a director of football.

‘They have the Belgian Beale in charge. I can not believe enough how rail manager has gone. After the first few months there are positive signs.

‘He’s got trophies and talks a lot of sense. After Michael Beale’s nonsense, they seem to have a sensible and serious operator.

“They now have a Belgian waffler who is spouting the kind of nonsense that comes out of Pedro Caixinha.

‘The warning signs were there last year with the “moral victory” against Celtic, and they’re getting worse.’

Both of Gerrard’s former clubs – Liverpool and Aston Villa – thrived under Arne Slott and Unai Emery.

The Anfield club sit five points clear at the top of the Premier League after Saturday’s win over Villa, who are in a strong position in the Champions League following a string of memorable victories earlier in the campaign.

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