Steven Gerrard has asked fans of both Liverpool and Manchester United to stop "sick chants".

The two English rivals will clash with each other at Anfield in the Premier League on Sunday.

It will be the first game that Liverpool will have hosted since the Hillsborough Independent Panel's report was published, and Gerrard wants supporters to be more respectful.

"I'm hoping human decency breaks out," the midfielder is quoted as saying in the Daily Mail.. "It's a great opportunity for both sets of fans to put the sick chants to bed.

"This is the perfect chance to send a message to all supporters around the world who may be singing about the wrong things.

"If it's a fantastic match, and there's no vile chanting during it, it will be a great advert to everyone watching. This is more important than football."

Gerrard added that Sunday's game could make fans from all around the world to stop chanting for the wrong cause.

"Munich and Hillsborough are not the only two disasters to have happened," he said.

"There are all different kinds of chants, including racist ones, that need to stop.

"And if two big clubs send out the right message that it has no place in football, then everyone else will take note."

Liverpool have yet to win a league match this season, having picked up just two points from four games.