The excuses coming from the mouths of Reds will actually have some foundation after today’s Liverpool versus Sunderland match against, in which a balloon helped Darren Bent to score an unlikely, and freakish goal.

Poor Pepe Reina looked like he’d just had his Porsche Cayenne stolen as the ball deflected off a balloon on the pitch and hit the back of the net in the first half of the game at the Stadium of Light.

The ball appeared to be heading straight for Reina before hitting the balloon, which has apparently thrown onto the pitch by a Liverpool fan.

Red Dwarf creator Rob Grant delivered the most amusing remark with his observation on Twitter that Man City have put in a £40m bid for the balloon.