WAYNE ROONEY has no doubts his pal and former mentor Steven Gerrard will be busting a gut to beat Chelsea on Sunday.
A victory for Liverpool could put Manchester United well on the way to a record 19th title which will be a nightmare scenario for the Anfield faithful.
But Rooney knows Kop skipper Gerrard will not be worried about such consequences, especially as Rafa Benitez's men still have an outside chance of snatching the fourth Champions League qualifying spot.
Gerrard, 29, took a young Roo under his wing when the Manchester United striker first announced his arrival on the England scene and the pair are firm friends.
Evertonian Rooney, 24, is expecting Gerrard to do United a big favour before they take on Sunderland at the Stadium of Light later that same afternoon.
Chelsea sit one point clear at the top of the table with two matches remaining and on paper they have the trickier run-in with fixtures against Liverpool and at home to Wigan.
As he basked in the glory of being crowned the PFA's Player of the Year, Rooney said: "I would swap the PFA award right now for the League.
"We are pushing forward and in a decent position and hopefully Chelsea can slip up and we will take advantage.
"I don't need to have a word with Stevie about making sure Liverpool win. You see what a good player and competitor he is even in friendly games.
"He wants to win and I'm sure he will want to win this one.
"Liverpool are fighting to get into Europe and with the history behind the club I'm sure they are all determined. It is the last home game of the season and their fans will not really be too pleased if they don't turn up."
Rooney missed last Saturday's superb 3-1 victory over Spurs with a groin injury caused by putting too much pressure on his left side to protect his damaged right ankle.
He has been ruled out of the Sunderland trip but has targeted the final game of the season against Stoke for his comeback, allaying any fears he could miss out on the World Cup.
Rooney added: "Obviously I'm disappointed to have missed a couple of games but I'll be fine.
"Hopefully I will play again before the season finishes and get ready for the World Cup.
"You don't like watching from the stands. I want to play and knowing you cannot influence the game is a frustrating thing.
"The season has gone quite well for me. The manager is playing me up front every game which I've been asking for for years and the service has been better.
"I have been getting on the end of those crosses.
"I've been working on my heading and it's nice when you work on something and it pays off - although it's probably given me a bigger bald patch!"
Ryan Giggs took over the penalty-taking duties for the victory over Spurs, converting twice from the spot, but Rooney will resume the responsibility upon his comeback.
He insisted: "No I don't think I've lost the penalty-taker's job - Giggsy scored two great pens but I'll be back on it when I get back."
Rooney is greedy. He wants a fourth successive Premier League title and then to finish the season off in style by lifting the World Cup.
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