Balotelli hasn’t settled at Anfield since he moved there during the summer.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has defended Mario Balotelli after the striker was heavily criticised for his performance in the Reds 3-2 win over QPR.
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Last year’s Premier League runners-up struggled for large parts of the match against the Super Hoops, but they did manage to win thanks to a last minute own goal from Steven Caulker.
Despite this, Balotelli was at the centre of Liverpool fans’ frustrations after he spurned several chances, but Rodgers insists the Italian will start scoring goals and shouldn’t be compared to former star Luis Suarez.
“It’ll drop for the boy,” the Northern Irishman was quoted by Goal.
“The most important thing to me is his work rate. He’s working really hard. It’ll drop for him.
“He’s seen as a direct replacement to Luis (Suarez), I’ve said before, Luis is irreplaceable, a real world class talent. That’s not what’s being asked of Mario. He’s a great boy, I’ve enjoyed working with him. He wants to be better. He’s a completely different player to Luis.”
The Reds signed Balotelli for £16 million after they had sold Suarez to FC Barcelona for £70 million, but so far the former Manchester City man has struggled to adapt to his new club’s style of play and has only scored one goal in nine appearances.
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