Aston Villa defeated Southampton in the Premier League on Friday night to record just their second win of the top-flight campaign.

It has been a difficult period for the club and Steven Gerrard recently, but the result against the Saints follows on from a credible showing against Manchester City, where the Villans drew 1-1, and four points from six is the perfect way to head into the international break.

Villa still have problems in front of goal, however, scoring more than once in only one league match so far this term, when they defeated Everton 2-1 in August.

Signing a striker should have been a priority for Gerrard in the summer, having Danny Ings and Ollie Watkins as his only two senior centre-forward options, and he could rue not linking up once more with a former team-mate…

Gerrard might regret not signing Suarez

Towards the end of the 2021/22 season, Villa were linked with Luis Suarez, who of course played alongside Gerrard at Liverpool from 2011 to 2014.

The Uruguayan striker was set to leave Atletico Madrid following the expiry of his contract and the 42-year-old was looking to utilise his relationship with the player to bring him back to England, despite interest from Inter Milan and Sevilla.

In the end, the 132-cap hitman went back to his homeland and joined his first professional club Nacional, where he now seems likely to end his playing career.

The 35-year-old has proven that he still has the ability to score on a regular basis, netting four goals and registering three assists in just nine matches back in Uruguay.

His former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers once dubbed Suarez “world-class”, and having scored a total of 413 goals during an illustrious career - winning La Liga titles with both Atletico Madrid and Barcelona and a Champions League crown for the latter, along with the Copa America with Uruguay - this praise is fully justified.

After the few months that Suarez has had with Nacional, Gerrard must surely regret not making a more concrete offer for his former team-mate, as there seems absolutely no doubt that the 35-year-old would have improved Villa's threadbare frontline.