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• ‘We totally support Luis and want the world to know that’
• Players ‘don’t recognise’ way Uruguayan has been portrayed

Liverpool’s players say they are “shocked and angered” that their team‑mate Luis Suárez has been banned for eight matches for racially abusing the Manchester United defender Patrice Evra.

A Football Association panel on Tuesday accepted Evra’s allegation that Suárez had directed a racial insult at him during United’s Premier League match at Liverpool on 15

• Suárez’s contribution hailed by Dutchman
• ‘It’s important for us all to score but especially for Luis’

Luis Suárez’s match-winning goal for Liverpool against Queens Park Rangers has prompted his team-mate Dirk Kuyt to round on the Uruguayan’s detractors.

Suárez’s header in the 47th minute at Anfield on Saturday was his first Premier League goal for two months and also came at the end of a week when a second Football Association charge was levelled against him.

The only goal of the game meant that Liverpool climbed back into the top six. “It was really good to see Luis scoring again,” Kuyt told the Liverpool Echo. “For all of us it’s important to score but especially for Luis. I thought he played really well.

“This is the Premier League so people will try to do everything they can to stop you and get you out of the game. The better you are, the more they try to stop you. Luis is a really good player so they try that even more but he’s doing great.”

Kuyt added: “He’s a great professional and he’s just been focusing on his job. He’s happy with all the support he gets from the club – from the manager, from the players and from our supporters.”

The Dutch international admitted there was disappointment that Kenny Dalglish’s side failed to achieve the kind of scoreline that reflected more accurately their dominance over QPR.

Kuyt was adamant that Liverpool’s squad have enough talent to improve on their record this season of only 18 goals in 15 games in the Premier League.

“We played really well but we are just a bit disappointed that we only scored once,” he said. “We should have killed the game off in the first half. We created enough chances in the first 30 minutes to be two or three up.

“It didn’t happen but at half-time we just told each other to keep going. We believe in ourselves and we knew we could win the game. We only scored once in the second half but the most important thing is the three points.”

Kuyt felt sure he would soon end his own goal drought, having drawn a blank in the league so far this season.

“This season I’ve been a little bit unlucky to be just in the wrong position when the ball comes across or I’ve missed a chance,” he said. “What I will do is just work harder and I’m sure the way this team plays means whoever plays up front will score a lot of goals.”

Luis SuárezLiverpoolguardian.co.uk

Three home draws in a row have led to groans and Liverpool need to improve to get Anfield rocking again

A visit from Manchester City, rampant Premier League leaders smarting from a seemingly crucial defeat at Napoli in midweek, is the sort of occasion that cannot fail to ignite Anfield’s trademark fervour. With the scent of a big beast’s blood in their nostrils, Kopites will roar Liverpool into battle on Sunday afternoon, but there will be a sense of anxiety among the masses, too, born of an awareness that their famous arena is hardly the fortress of old right now.

Six matches have been played at Anfield this season yet only two have resulted in victory for the hosts, with the past three ending in stalemate. Manchester United kicked off that run six weeks ago by snatching a 1-1 draw and since then newly promoted Norwich City and Swansea City have also come away from Merseyside with a point. Should Manchester City avoid defeat on Sunday, Liverpool will have failed to win any of four successive home league fixtures for the first time since December