The Italy international expressed his thoughts on Manchester United’s 5-3 loss to Leicester City online and was allegedly subjected to racial slurs

Merseyside Police are set to investigate after Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli was subjected to apparent racial abuse on Twitter.

The Italian forward took to the social media website on Sunday to tweet his thoughts on rivals Manchester United’s shock 5-3 defeat to Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.

“Man Utd LOL [laugh out loud],” the 24-year-old wrote.

The post attracted a number of abusive replies, many of which were then deleted – though a number were copied and shared by eagle-eyed users.

And Merseyside Police have revealed through their own official Twitter account that they will launch a probe into the abuse.

They wrote: “We can confirm officers are looking into offensive comments made on Twitter about Mario Balotelli earlier today.”

Balotelli has been the victim of abuse on a number of occasions throughout his career.

The Italy international faced offensive chants during Milan’s clash with Roma in May 2013, and was forced to hit back at one fan for describing him as “not Italian” following his country’s 2014 World Cup exit.

The Liverpool striker, who played a key role in Manchester City’s 6-1 win at Old Trafford three years ago, revelled in the Red Devils’ second-half collapse on Twitter

Mario Balotelli has taunted Manchester United following Sunday’s shock 5-3 loss to newly-promoted Leicester City.

Robin van Persie and Angel Di Maria gave United a 2-0 lead inside 16 minutes, with Ander Herrera restoring the margin just before the hour-mark.

However, goals from David Nugent, from the penalty-spot, and Esteban Cambiasso saw Leicester fight back before Jamie Vardy and Leonardo Ulloa’s second claimed a stunning victory.

United’s collapse marked the first time in Premier League history they have seen a two-goal lead slip on the way to losing a game.

And Balotelli, who recently joined Liverpool and includes Manchester City among his former sides, took to Twitter to broadcast his post-match reaction soon after the final whistle.

Man utd … LOL
— Mario Balotelli (@FinallyMario) September 21, 2014

Unfortunately, in response, the striker received a barrage of racist abuse from a number of Twitter users. Others, in defence of Balotelli, reported a number of the messages to police.

The Hammers boss says his side dominated the Reds and that he was disappointed his team were only 2-1 up at half-time after dominating Brendan Rodgers’ men

Sam Allardyce believes Liverpool were left “stunned” by West Ham’s first-half performance in the sides’ meeting at Upton Park.

The hosts were two goals to the good after just six breathless minutes thanks to Winston Reid and Diafra Sakho, and added a third through Morgan Amalfitano late on after Raheem Sterling had given Liverpool hope.

Allardyce praised the tireless work rate of his players following the win, hailing their efforts in the opening moments as crucial in setting the tone.

“Our higher pressing game was the reason we dominated Liverpool so much in the first half and to score two goals in that early period really stunned the Liverpool players,” he told reporters.

“We carried that right through to the end of the first half and we really took them to task. We played outstandingly well and didn’t let Liverpool play at all so the only disappointment was that it was 2-1 at half-time and not more.

“Having said that, we’ve won the game, we deserved to win it.

“We’ve had to give a more solid defensive performance in the second half when Liverpool were going to throw caution to the wind and we’ve managed to pop up with the third goal at just the right time.

“Outstanding performance today, particularly the first half, and one where we’ve deserved everything we’ve got.”

Allardyce went on praise the contribution of his summer signings to a morale-boosting win over title-chasing opposition.

Goalscorers Sakho and Amalfitano were among those brought to the club during the recent transfer window, as were starters Alex Song, Enner Valencia and Cheikhou Kouyate.

“It’s [Alex Song’s] first competitive game that he’s started today. He didn’t play any games in pre-season for Barcelona, so I thought he did tremendously well with the pace of the game to last as long as he did,” Allardyce added.

“The front two looked like they’d been here for a long time. The energy that they’ve got, not just in possession but out of possession I think terrorised Liverpool’s back four.

“And we’ve got Cheikhou Koyate who loves football, loves life, loves being in every day. He’s looking like a promising player for us. We’ve got really good players that we’ve recruited this season and that has lifted everyone else for me.

“That performance today just shows what level we might be able to achieve this season.”