Ahead of the match with Chelsea, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has stated that the striker Luis Suarez has come a long way since the famous biting incident involving Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic. In this fixture 12 months ago, Suarez was found guilty of biting Ivanovic. The English FA then banned him for a record 10 matches, a suspension that was carried into this campaign as well. However, Suarez has become a player transformed since then. He has managed to get the club close to the Premier league title, while on a personal level he has won several titles like the PFA Player of the Year award.

As Chelsea will be the visitors to Anfield this weekend, tension between the two clubs has been heightened because of the incident 12 months ago. Rodgers, though, has tried to defend his player by saying that his performances on the pitch now do the talking. Ivanovic accepted the apology from the striker that came out immediately after the incident. The pair had already met each other in the clash earlier at Stamford Bridge this season. Chelsea came out on top in that match with a 2-1 win. Suarez comes into the match this weekend as the top scorer in the league with 30 goals to his name.

“He is a brilliant talent. I think the supporters have seen him mature over the course of the last season. I think he was in a real low moment after that game, but he has gone away and probably looked in the mirror and reflected on himself because he is not that type of guy and it probably just spilled over. He is a really intelligent man who fits the values of this club, which is all about humility, class and he has all of that,” said Rodgers.