Stoke hold sorry Reds

Liverpool missed the chance to go six points clear at the top of the table after being held to a goalless draw by Stoke.

Both sides denied by woodwork

Liverpool missed the chance to go six points clear at the top of the table after being held to a goalless draw by Stoke at the Britannia Stadium. Chances were few and far between with both defences very much on top in a disappointing encounter as Stoke secured a second goalless draw with Rafa Benitez's men this season. Stoke had the better of the limited opportunities with Rory Delap seeing a shot crash off the crossbar early on and Glenn Whelan clipping the post with a free-kick from the edge of the box in the second half. Steven Gerrard came closest to scoring for the below-par visitors when he saw his free-kick wide on the left come back off the crossbar and his late effort clip the post. Dirk Kuyt should have done better in the eighth minute when he sent a free header wide of the post following a cross from Albert Riera. It was a good chance for Kuyt to add to his seven-goal tally but he was left frustrated. Stoke hit back and should have taken the lead in the 13th minute when Liverpool failed to clear a high, hopeful ball from Amdy Faye. Rory Delap found himself clear on goal inside the six-yard area but only succeeded in blasting a shot against the underside of the crossbar and Richard Cresswell failed to take advantage of the rebound. Liverpool responded in the 22nd minute and Kuyt's effort was beaten away at the post by goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen.

Disallowed

Stoke, however, found the net in the 31st minute when Ryan Shawcross got on the end of a cross from Matthew Etherington, on his debut, only for his effort to be ruled out for offside. A poor clearance, however, from Reina put Liverpool in trouble six minutes into the second half. Kitson latched on to the ball and skipped away from the goalkeeper but his effort from an acute angle ended in the side-netting. Benitez decided to make a switch in the 60th minute and brought on Fernando Torres for Riera in a bid to beef up the attack. Lucas squandered a great chance for Liverpool in the 68th minute when he failed to test Sorensen with a header at the back post and sent his effort across the face of the goal instead.

Close

Kitson came close for Stoke in the 74th minute when he headed over the bar following a throw-in from Delap. Four minutes later Glenn Whelan saw his 25-yard free-kick beat Reina but finish marginally off-target. Liverpool almost took the lead in the 85th minute but Gerrard's free-kick rattled the crossbar. Then on the stroke of full-time his effort came back off the post after a flick-on by Torres.

Stoke City	Team Statistics	Liverpool
0	Goals	0
0	1st Half Goals	0
0	Shots on Target	2
6	Shots off Target	5
0	Blocked Shots	4
4	Corners	5
11	Fouls	12
1	Offsides	0
2	Yellow Cards	2
0	Red Cards	0
61.2	Passing Success	80.2
19	Tackles	16
73.7	Tackles Success	68.8
33.6	Possession	66.4
53	Territorial Advantage	47