Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers says that the club will be monitoring the fitness of Mario Balotelli over the next few days in order to determine if he is good enough to start against Ludogorets.
This Champions League match is highly crucial for the Merseyside club, as the possibility of reaching the last 16 round still beckons. They would have to win the next two matches – against FC Basel and Ludogorets – and also hope that other results go their way in order to reach the knockout stages. Rodgers has been extremely frustrated with Balotelli in recent weeks.
The forward is yet to score in the league after his £ 16 million transfer from AC Milan. Even though the transfer fee is relatively low in today’s standards, it represents a major investment from the club in their efforts to replace Luis Suarez.
Balotelli has only managed two goals in his Liverpool career. One of them came against Ludogorets earlier in the campaign. This late winner failed to spark a run of form in the Italian international and he continues to be an enigma. Liverpool witnessed Rickie Lambert finally opened his Premier league account in the 3-1 defeat against Crystal Palace on Sunday. Despite scoring, Lambert may go to the bench if Balotelli is sufficiently fit.
“Mario came back from the Italy squad and it was still sore [groin] – we will assess that over the next few days,” said Rodgers. The Liverpool manager also spoke about the poor form of Raheem Sterling. The England international has gone off the boil in recent weeks after a fantastic start to the season.“He’s played a lot of games.
There is a lot of pressure on the young player. He’s not an unknown and is a marked player. Raheem’s confidence is not quite as high and the intensity not quite as high. He’s an outstanding talent – he’s going to have little spells like that,” continued Rodgers.
