Saturday, 25th October, 2014
Former Everton winger Kevin Kilbane believes that Mario Balotelli is being put under pressure at Liverpool by Divock Origi.
The Reds snapped Origi up from Lille in the summer, but as part of the deal agreed to loan the Belgium international back to the French club for the season.
And as Balotelli toils in a Liverpool shirt, seeing criticism arrive from all corners and the goals continue to prove elusive, Origi is impressing with Lille.
Origi was in good form for Lille in midweek against Liverpool's rivals Everton in the Europa League, while he has also hit the back of the net three times in Ligue 1 so far this season.
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Much has been made of the 19-year-old's potential and for Kilbane, that is not at all helping Balotelli.
The former Everton man told BBC Radio 5 live: "What I don't think has helped Mario Balotelli is the form of Divock Origi, on loan from Liverpool at Lille, who looked good playing against Everton in midweek in the Europa League, working the channels, holding the ball up well and generally doing much better than Balotelli in that lone striker role"
Liverpool have been mooted as being keen to bring Origi's arrival forward to January, although Lille have insisted that is not on the agenda.
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