Balotelli voted Liverpool's player of the season... by Manchester United and Arsenal fans

The age of social media has brought a new edge to football rivalries.

Back in the day, it was verbal assaults on match-days and ridiculing of that opposing supporter in the pub.

In the modern day, the war of words between fans has gone interactive. Facebook, Twitter and other social sites have become littered with football 'banter' on a regular basis.

And fans of Manchester United and Arsenal have found a new, unique way to get at Liverpool, one of their long-term rivals.

No, they are not lambasting each other with comments and tweets (OK, they are doing that) and no, they are not continuously posting that photo of Steven Gerrard slipping over (actually, doing that one too).

But this time, they have found an incredibly subtle way to do it.

Fans of United and Arsenal have been voting for Mario Balotelli as Liverpool's player of the season in the open polls on the Reds' website.

The 24-year-old is considered by many as Liverpool's most disappointing player of the season, but now he might just be in line to win the fans' award in a controversial invasion of supporter opinion.

And these fans are so passionate about making Balotelli the player of the season, they have created multiple accounts to continually vote for the Italian.