Simon Hooper to referee Liverpool's next match despite Manchester City error

Simon Hooper will take charge of Liverpool's upcoming game against Sheffield United on Wednesday evening, despite widespread criticism of his recent blunder in Manchester City's draw with Tottenham.

Hooper, who has taken charge of seven Liverpool games in the past, will be joined by Michael Oliver on VAR and Tony Harrington as his fourth official for the Reds' trip to Bramall Lane.

The bad news for Liverpool is that Hooper comes into the game after making a huge and potentially costly error during Man City's 3-3 draw with Tottenham on Sunday afternoon.

The champions dropped points against Spurs in a thrilling affair at the Etihad, Dejan Kulusevski's 90th-minute equaliser seeing Man City draw successive home games.

However, the Cityzens felt incredibly hard done by come the final whistle, with Hooper at the centre of the controversy.

In second-half stoppage-time at the Etihad, Erling Haaland was felled by Emerson Royal on the halfway line before quickly getting to his feet and sending a ball over the top of the Spurs defence for Jack Grealish to chase.

With Grealish directly through on goal, and despite having seemingly played the advantage, Hooper inexplicably blew up for the original foul, much to the fury of the Man City players and Pep Guardiola.

Hooper has been widely criticised for ultimately denying Man City a goalscoring opportunity late in the game but it has been confirmed that he will still take charge of Liverpool's match on Wednesday.

The Reds have history with Hooper, the referee taking charge of Liverpool's 2-1 defeat to Tottenham earlier this season. Well, we all know what happened there.

While Hooper wasn't to blame for VAR's error in not awarding Luis Diaz's perfectly legitimate goal, the referee did send off Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota in north London, neither of which were clear-cut red cards.

Hooper also took charge of Liverpool's 3-0 victory over Aston Villa earlier this season and has overseen four victories, one draw and two defeats for the Reds.