Liverpool are gearing up for a Premier League meeting with Sunderland on December 3.
Arne Slot could make changes to his Reds’ eleven after admitting a few key players are probably not ready to start three games in a week.
Liverpool are predicted to beat Sunderland by pundits, but given their recent form, three points are by no means guaranteed.
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What certainly won’t help their case is if they are once again the victims of a truly bizarre incident, as they were when the two sides met back in 2009.
Rafa Benitez was still Liverpool manager at the time and was looking to secure a much-needed win after a torrid start to the season.
The Reds lost three of their first eight league matches before travelling to the Stadium of Light to taste defeat once more.
Sunderland won the match 1-0, and Darren Bent scored what is now one of the most infamous goals in Premier League history.
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The ball fell to Bent in the Liverpool box, with his effort looking set to go directly into the path of Pepe Reina.
However, a beach ball, presumably brought into the stadium by a fan, blocked the shot and deflected the strike past the Spaniard.
Was this the strangest goal Liverpool have EVER conceded?
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Now, speaking exclusively to Rousing The Kop, former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg has explained why the goal should not have stood.
He said: “It was a unique situation when a Darren Bent shot hit the beach ball, which diverted past the Liverpool goalkeeper.
“Mike Jones, the referee, allowed the goal, but it should not have stood as the ball hit an object which was not part of the field of play.
“The restart should have been a drop ball back in 2009 when this famous incident happened.”
Darren Bent’s verdict after Liverpool beach ball goal
Bent commented on the goal 10 years later when speaking to Sky Sports, revealing what Jones said to him at half-time of the fixture.
He said: “I remember the referee’s face at half-time when he came to see me. He said ‘did it hit the ball?’. When I said, ‘Yeah’, there was panic in his face. He realised he’d made a bit of a mistake!
“Then Pepe Reina came up to me and was like ‘It hit the ball! It hit the ball!’ and I was like ‘I know!'”
After such a high-profile error, Jones was made to referee in the Championship the following week.
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