• Premier League

Borini and Balotelli could do Italian job for Liverpool

Fabio Borini has only made three appearances for Liverpool this season © PA Photos

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Liverpool striker Fabio Borini believes his Italian roots could help him form a successful partnership with Mario Balotelli this season - given they get more game time together.

Balotelli has yet to find his form with just one goal, against Bulgarian minnows Ludogorets, in eight matches and was dropped for last weekend's win over West Brom, while Borini has had even less game time.

After rejecting summer moves to Sunderland and QPR, Borini has made only three appearances - and one start - for the club this season. The 23-year-old has shared the field with Balotelli for just 98 minutes but is confident they could bring out the best in each other.

"I have played with him before and found it really well on the pitch," Borini said. "Not just because of the language but we were born with the same idea of football, as Italians, so it's really easy to understand each other even without talking.

"He's a player that can change the game whenever he wants. It's a tough league, probably the toughest in Europe - and I think he understands that.

"In the games, he runs a lot and is really giving himself to the team, being very unselfish."

Borini believes the depth of Liverpool's attacking options is one of the causes for his lack of match action.

And with Daniel Sturridge set to return from a six-week absence when the Premier League campaign resumes next weekend, both he and Rickie Lambert may find opportunities to come by.

"We have four completely different players so there is a good choice of players in the squad, because we can all do different things," Borini told the club's official website.

"We can all play together and we can all play on our own up front when it is a 4-3-3. It is a good selection of strikers and we can all learn from each other.

"I know there are some things that Rickie might do better than me, so I can learn from him. It's the same with Daniel and Mario. We all learn from each other if we have the right attitude. We can all play together.

"I've played in lots of teams but that's something I've never seen before - such a different selection of strikers."

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