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Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli is hoping that wearing some old shin pads left at the club's training ground by former star Luis Suarez will inspire him to score more goals.
According to the People , the £16million Italian found a pair of Suarez's old shin pads at Melwood and believes that wearing them will spark an upturn in his goal scoring record.
Balotelli has just four goals in his debut season at Anfield, although he has improved recently after a terrible start for the Reds.
The paper claim that Balotelli even called the £75m striker, who scored 31 goals last season, to ask his permission to wear the shin pads that were left behind when he moved; Suarez apparently said yes.
A source told the People: "Luis was in great form and only too happy to help when he received the call from Mario."
Show all 22 1 /22Liverpool 2 Manchester City 1 player ratings Liverpool 2 Manchester City 1 player ratings Simon Mignolet - 5 Should have done better to deny Dzeko’s goal and looked nervy from the off. Caught out of position on more than one occasion. Lucky not to concede more in the second half as several efforts went skimming by the woodwork.
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Liverpool 2 Manchester City 1 player ratings Emre Can - 7 Muscular in defence. He let his teammates roam up the field knowing they were secure at the back.
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Liverpool 2 Manchester City 1 player ratings Dejan Lovren - 6 Had a mixed game going up against Pablo Zabaleta. The Argentine couldn’t pick a key cross so Lovren can be pleased with his work.
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Liverpool 2 Manchester City 1 player ratings Martin Skrtel - 6 Read the game well in the centre of the back-three but was asked to do too much with Liverpool’s midfielder’s so committed to the attack.
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Liverpool 2 Manchester City 1 player ratings Jordan Henderson - 8 What. A. Goal. You don’t see too many of them. His powerful curling effort from 25 yards gave Joe Hart no chance. Otherwise had a decent game with some tidy passing.
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Liverpool 2 Manchester City 1 player ratings Alberto Moreno - 5 Liverpool needed two long range finishes because their midfielders couldn’t pick any key passes. Moreno was off the mark more than once.
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Liverpool 2 Manchester City 1 player ratings Lazar Markovic - 3 Had a really bad game on the right flank. Skewed a number of crosses off the mark and his passing was errant.
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Liverpool 2 Manchester City 1 player ratings Joe Allen - 6 Won the ball back for his team and helped kick-start many of his team’s attacks.
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Liverpool 2 Manchester City 1 player ratings Adam Lallana - 6 Had two finishes negated by the offside flag. Wasted a handful of opportunities. Up and down game.
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Liverpool 2 Manchester City 1 player ratings Philippe Coutinho - 8 His goal was another absolute missile. Played some nice balls across the part to boot. Very good game.
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Liverpool 2 Manchester City 1 player ratings Raheem Sterling - 7 Full of vim and vigour and was his usual pacey self
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Liverpool 2 Manchester City 1 player ratings Joe Hart - 4 Not a lot he, or any other goalkeeper in the world could have done much about the two Liverpool goals on the day. The reds had two more goals disallowed for offside, the day could have been much worse for Joe Hart.
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Liverpool 2 Manchester City 1 player ratings Pablo Zabaleta - 6 Caught well out of position for the first goal on one of his ventures up the field. Was positive in the attack and was City’s main attacking outlet on the flanks.
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Liverpool 2 Manchester City 1 player ratings Eliaquim Mangala - 5 City suffered because Liverpool had plenty of time to wind up their shots. Could have done better closing down.
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Liverpool 2 Manchester City 1 player ratings Vincent Kompany - 5 Isn’t what he used to be. Doesn’t command the centre of defence like he used to. Up and down performance.
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Liverpool 2 Manchester City 1 player ratings Alexandar Kolarov - 5 Powerful in defence but was mediocre going forward.
Liverpool 2 Manchester City 1 player ratings Fernandinho - 4 Left his defence high and dry for the first goal with a sloppy back-pass. Wasn’t very effective at building attacks.
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Liverpool 2 Manchester City 1 player ratings Yaya Toure - 8 His passing was lethal all day, constantly prying open the Liverpool defence with teasing deliveries.
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Liverpool 2 Manchester City 1 player ratings Samir Nasri - 6 Plenty of useful link-up play from the Frenchman. On another day should have had an assist.
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Liverpool 2 Manchester City 1 player ratings David Silva - 7 Displayed plenty of nice passes in the centre and was City’s most creative player on the day.
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Liverpool 2 Manchester City 1 player ratings Edin Dzeko - 7 Looked very sharp from the off and his finish was clinical.
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Liverpool 2 Manchester City 1 player ratings Sergio Aguero - 7 Unlucky to be denied by the post early on and he looked sharp on the break. Provided a nice assist for Dzeko’s goal.
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Brendan Rodgers' team will hope to continue their 11-match unbeaten run in the Premier League when they host relegation battlers Burnley on Wednesday.
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