LFC 0-1 AV: Legend slams 'incompetent' £18m star; 'Poor' £20m man blamed for goal

With just over an hour until Liverpool face Aston Villa, the Reds are facing the prospect of starting the game without £16m summer signing Mario Balotelli.

Anfield Shock? Crucial LFC star set to miss Premier League clash with Aston Villa


According to reports this afternoon:

* Balotelli has a stomach bug, and is set to miss this evenings Premier League game.

* The striker missed training on Thursday amidst struggling with the bug.

Brendan Rodgers confirmed the issue during his Thursday press conference:

"Mario has had a bit of a bug that we wanted to make sure he didn't spread around the group. I think he has felt the warmth of the club since he's been here and I'm sure he will look forward to playing at Anfield."

Balotelli posted the following tweet an hour ago:

Come on LIVERPOOL!!!!!!! come on guys👊

— Mario Balotelli (@FinallyMario) September 13, 2014

This sounds like someone cheering the team on from the sidelines, which suggests he is going to miss the game.

With Sturridge already out, losing Balotelli will be a big blow, but that's what the squad is for, and if Borini and/or Lambert will have a great chance to stake their claim.

I'd personally go with Borini over Lambert, but Rodgers will probably go for Lambert:

------------------- Mignolet

Manquillo ----- Lovren -- Sakho ------ Moreno

------------------- Gerrard

----------- Hendo --------- Lallana

------------ Sterling -- Markovic

------------------ Borini

EDIT: Disaster averted. Balotelli starts (!)

Author: Jaimie K