Balotelli ruled himself out, reveals Rodgers

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Brendan Rodgers revealed that Mario Balotelli ruled himself out of Saturday's Premier League visit to Arsenal after taking a "slight knock" in training.

The Italian was absent from the squad as Liverpool's UEFA Champions League hopes suffered a huge blow in a 4-1 loss at the Emirates Stadium.

Rodgers explained: "He trained yesterday afternoon with the team and he took a knock, a slight knock to his knee, and he deemed it not able to travel with the team."

Balotelli drew criticism from his manager in February, when the forward's late penalty secured a 1-0 win over Besiktas.

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In that instance he took the ball from Jordan Henderson, but it was the Italy international's application that troubled Rodgers, who said "once we get the penalty, Mario stops working".