Mario Balotelli was once again disappointing for Liverpool, but the defeat to Newcastle United in the Premier League on Saturday was not his fault.
Liverpool were genuinely disappointing against Newcastle United and gave one of their worst displays under manager Brendan Rodgers.
Just like his teammates, Mario Balotelli struggled to make an impact on the Premier League clash at St. James’ Park which ended in a 1-0 win for Newcastle.
As the stats below show, the 24-year-old Italy international striker has yet another underwhelming game.
| Goals | Total Shots | Shots on Target | Big Chance Missed | Key Passes | Total Pass | Accurate Pass | Touches | Appearances | Mins Played | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mario Balotelli | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 13 | 36 | 1 | 90 |
Despite playing for the entire 90 minutes, Balotelli had just two attempts. Both were on target, but he will still be disappointed that he could not get them past Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul.
Balotelli had just 36 touches of the ball, but he did emerge with a credible pass accuracy of 81%.
The stats do suggest that Balotelli had a poor game and he did, but he should not be blamed for Liverpool’s misery against Newcastle.
The defeat to Alan Pardew’s side exposed a major weakness in Balotelli’s game: he cannot create chances for himself. And with the Liverpool midfielders failing to provide him with service, the former Manchester City star struggled to make an impact.
Balotelli worked hard throughout the 90 minutes, but that was just not enough. If only he were a genius like Luis Suarez…
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