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MARIO BALOTELLI will only play for Liverpool again when he can appreciate the value of pressing.

Reds boss Brendan Rodgers warned last week: “It is difficult for him but he knows the level of where this team is at. You see the aggression in our pressing and if you can’t do that you are not going to be a part of what this team is trying to achieve.”

There is a reason for Rodgers’ bullishness.

Pressing high up the pitch with aggression and intensity gets results.

Last Tuesday Liverpool produced, by popular concensus, their best performance of the season against Chelsea.

They pressed high and hard – and Chelsea couldn’t cope.

The passing success of Chelsea’s defensive players has been a platform for such a stirring start to the season from Jose Mourinho’s men.

But against Liverpool the Reds wrecked Chelsea’s ability to build from the back.

Just look at Chelsea’s seasonal stats, compared to the statistics on the night at Anfield.

John Terry: For the season 91.3%. v Liverpool 79.2%

Gary Cahill: For the season 87.5%. v Liverpool 72.7%

Branislav Ivanovic: For the season 81.6%. v Liverpool 58.6%

Felipe Luis: For the season 85.7%. v Liverpool 77.8%

Nemanja Matic: For the season 87.2%. v Liverpool 81.8%

Chelsea’s back five players all struggled to reproduce their usual effectiveness because of Liverpool’s relentless pressing.

The one exception?

Cesc Fabregas’ figures for the night were almost identical to his seasonal average.

Cesc Fabregas: For the season 86.8%. v Liverpool 86.7%.

If Liverpool are going to go one better at Stamford Bridge than they did at Anfield last week, they may need to press down on the peerless Fabregas, too.