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After fans of Manchester United and Arsenal (and probably more given the recent coverage) hijacked Liverpool's Fans' Player of the Year award , the club have responded by removing the Mario Balotelli from the available options.
Despite playing 26 times this season and scoring four goals along the way, Liverpool supporters can no longer vote for Balotelli for the end of season awards.
Yet they can vote for the likes of Jon Flanagan and Danny Ward – neither of which have played a minute this season - and you can see for yourself here .
Aston Villa 2 Liverpool 1 player ratingsShow all 23 1 /23Aston Villa 2 Liverpool 1 player ratings Aston Villa 2 Liverpool 1 player ratings Shay Given Nothing the Irishman could do about Philippe Coutinho’s first-half strike. Shay Given has been ever-present for Villa in the cups and did his boss proud. 7
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Aston Villa 2 Liverpool 1 player ratings Leandro Bacuna Often liable to race down the flanks, leaving space behind him, Leandro Bacuna has been tamed somewhat under his new manager. That was clear for all to see once more today. 7
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Aston Villa 2 Liverpool 1 player ratings Ron Vlaar Without Daniel Sturridge to contend with, who may have exposed his lack of pace more so than Lazar Markovic could, today could have been different for Vlaar. As it were, the Dutch international delivered another combative display. 8
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Aston Villa 2 Liverpool 1 player ratings Nathan Baker One of Villa’s promising young players, Nathan Baker has a bright future ahead of him and this experience will absolutely benefit his career. 7
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Aston Villa 2 Liverpool 1 player ratings Kieran Richardson Added some well-needed experience into a youthful Villa side. When called upon, the former Manchester United man held the ball up well. Did superbly to clear off the line from Steven Gerrard in the dying stages. 7
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Aston Villa 2 Liverpool 1 player ratings Tom Cleverley The much maligned midfielder has had plenty on his plate in recent weeks with rumours surfacing that Arsenal and Spurs are interested in his services in the summer. Another decent, hard-working display. 8
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Aston Villa 2 Liverpool 1 player ratings Ashley Westwood Had the difficult task of managing the exploits of Steven Gerrard but fared well for large periods. 7
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Aston Villa 2 Liverpool 1 player ratings Fabian Delph A menace, undoubtedly, but Fabian Delph will always have his physicality called into question. Sometimes liable to overcompensate, as we saw when he risked a penalty on Raheem Sterling, the England man put in a good shift. 8
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Aston Villa 2 Liverpool 1 player ratings Charles N'Zogbia A thorn in the sides of all Liverpool defenders, the former Newcastle winger charged forward at every given opportunity. 8
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Aston Villa 2 Liverpool 1 player ratings Christian-Benteke.jpg Feed the beat and he will score. The Belgian hotshot has been in stunning form since Sherwood’s arrival at Villa Park and he continues that today. 7
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Aston Villa 2 Liverpool 1 player ratings Jack Grealish Despite wearing his socks far too low, Jack Grealish impressed once more. Tim Sherwood has got grand designs for the young talent and you can see why. 9
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Aston Villa 2 Liverpool 1 player ratings Simon Mignolet While Aston Villa were indeed impressive, they did little to test the Liverpool keeper. 6
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Aston Villa 2 Liverpool 1 player ratings Emre Can Stood up to the threat posed by Christian Benteke reasonably well but lost his man for Villa’s first goal. 6
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Aston Villa 2 Liverpool 1 player ratings Martin Skrtel Was his typical combative self but without really getting a real hold of Christian Benteke. Only did well against the Belgian when the striker dropped off. 6
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Aston Villa 2 Liverpool 1 player ratings Dejan Lovren Was embarrassed by Fabian Delph for Aston Villa’s second goal and didn’t really recover. 5
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Aston Villa 2 Liverpool 1 player ratings Lazar Markovic Substituted at half time after an indifferent display in the first period. 5
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Aston Villa 2 Liverpool 1 player ratings Jordan Henderson Was anonymous in the opening 45 minutes but had his hands full with Jack Grealish and Charles N’Zogbia in the second half. 6
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Aston Villa 2 Liverpool 1 player ratings Joe Allen Had a hand in the Liverpool goal and became an outlet for every move forward into the Villa half. 7
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Aston Villa 2 Liverpool 1 player ratings Alberto Moreno Made a crucial late challenge on Christian Benteke in the second half to deny a certain goal. 7
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Aston Villa 2 Liverpool 1 player ratings Steven Gerrard Perhaps forced back into action too soon, after Lucas Leiva’s injury, the former England skipper was given the run around by Jack Grealish. 6
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Aston Villa 2 Liverpool 1 player ratings Philippe Coutinho Took his first goal well and posed a considerable threat in the early exchanges but went missing in the second period. 7
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Aston Villa 2 Liverpool 1 player ratings Raheem Sterling Could and should have done more to get Liverpool back into once they had fallen behind. He had the tools at his disposal but struggled to get into the match. 6
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Aston Villa 2 Liverpool 1 player ratings Best of the Bench: Mario Balotelli The controversial Italian was impressive at times, showcasing his box of tricks, but lacked the conviction to do anything about Liverpool’s second half plight. 6
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The move comes after fans of rival clubs flooded the website poll with votes for Balotelli, which had him on course to win the end-of-season award as the Reds’ best player this season. His future at the club is clouded in uncertainty with the expectation that he will be offloaded in the summer, having failed to justify his £16m transfer fee last summer.
Liverpool's Player of the Year vote no longer contains Mario Balotelli (liverpoolfc.com) Balotelli should have been the FA Cup saviour when he scored in Sunday’s semi-final against Aston Villa, only to have his goal incorrectly ruled out for offside and Liverpool to slump to a 2-1 defeat to crash out of the sole remaining competition that they could win.
The 24-year-old famously wore a T-shirt underneath his kit during his time with Manchester City that read ‘Why Always Me?’ on the front, which he displayed after scoring against Manchester United in 2011.
Balotelli's famous T-shirt during his Manchester City days (Getty Images) Once again, he’ll be asking himself the same question after this deeply unfair decision: why always me?
*UPDATE*
Following the revelations that Balotelli had been removed from the poll, Liverpool have reinstated the striker to the available options, as you can see below.
Mario Balotelli's name returns to the Player of the Year list (liverpool.co.uk) However, upon his initial return, the error was made worse when his name was spelt incorrectly with 'Mario Ballotelli' appearing at the bottom of the list, as noticed by Bleacher Report.
Bleacher Report point out that Balotelli's name is spelt incorrectly (Twitter) Follow @IndyFootball on Twitter.
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