Graphic: Tactical analysis

Liverpool’s year as the European Capital of Culture ended with a fireworks display on the banks of the Mersey on Saturday night, but Rafael Benítez’s title dreams may have started to fizzle out after this disappointing draw at the Britannia Stadium.

The Liverpool manager seemed to enjoy being the centre of attention as he continued his attack on Sir Alex Ferguson after his team had failed to score against Stoke City for the second time in the campaign. However, dropping four points against these opponents is not title-winning form in anyone’s language.

Hampered by Benítez’s cautious approach, Liverpool displayed many of the characteristics that would make them worthy champions — the strength of Sami Hyypia, the discipline of Javier Mascherano, the energy of Steven Gerrard — while playing as if they were happy to settle for a point. “They [Stoke City] played with ten men behind the ball, so it was not easy to create opportunities,” Benítez said. “We’re still top of the table, so we are in a fantastic position.”

Benítez handed the initiative to the home side by starting with Fernando Torres and Robbie Keane on the substitutes’ bench and forced Gerrard, arguably his best player, to operate out of position again as an auxiliary striker. The England midfield player came to life after Torres had been introduced as a second-half substitute and was unlucky not to score with two strikes that hit the bar and a post in the closing stages. “They play in a certain way,” Tony Pulis, the Stoke manager, said. “They get players in certain areas of the pitch to outnumber you or play through you or play across you, so it was important that my players stayed disciplined and we did that today.”

Pulis’s players deserved at least a point and the signing last week of Matthew Etherington from West Ham United for £3 million should improve their prospects of beating the drop. Etherington gave Jamie Carragher plenty to think about with a busy performance on the left wing and his team-mates were happy to do the dirty work as their new colleague added the spark that had been missing from their recent performances.

“Take that you mummy’s boy”, a Stoke supporter screamed as Rory Delap launched into a crunching tackle on Albert Riera before dusting himself off to take one of his famous long throws. Thankfully for Liverpool, Hyypia’s enduring excellence in the air prevented Stoke from scoring from one of Delap’s missiles.

“Our performances have not been as bad as our results,” Pulis said. “The last two games, against West Ham United and Manchester United, we shot ourselves in the foot. It hasn’t been the other team beating us, we’ve beaten ourselves.”

Amateur psychologists will be saying the same thing about Liverpool if they fail to lift the Barclays Premier League trophy in May after their best start to a season since Benítez arrived at the club five years ago. In the wake of Friday’s tirade, the Spaniard was still talking about Ferguson and Manchester United after the final whistle instead of analysing his team’s performance or giving any credit to Stoke. “I will always defend my club,” he said. “If Ferguson concentrates on football, I’ll concentrate on football.”

Pulis’s decision to match Liverpool’s 4-4-1-1 formation meant that Glenn Whelan and Amdy Faye, the Stoke midfield players, could deny Gerrard space while Richard Cresswell, the Stoke forward, pressed and harried Mascherano and Lucas Leiva whenever Liverpool tried to build from the back.

Lucas did little to justify his place and it was difficult to work out why Liverpool had not started with two forwards and Gerrard in midfield. “We thought Torres would start but he was on the bench and so was Keane,” Etherington said. “They’ve still got some quality players all over the pitch, so we knew it was going to be a tough game, but I thought we more than matched them.”

Stoke were hard-working, resilient and a credit to their manager and supporters, while Liverpool were lacklustre, insipid and ineffective. Benítez, though, had something else on his mind. “Mr Ferguson was talking too much about Liverpool and for too long,” he said. “I think it was the right moment to say enough is enough. A lot of people think the facts I put on the table were right.”

Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but surely the only facts that matter are that, unlike Liverpool, United and Chelsea left the Britannia Stadium with three points.

Stoke City (4-4-1-1): T Sorensen 6 - A Wilkinson 6, R Shawcross 7, Abdoulaye Faye 7, D Higginbotham 6 - R Delap 7, G Whelan 7, Amdy Faye 7, M Etherington 7 - R Cresswell 6 - D Kitson 6. Substitutes: L Lawrence (for Etherington, 77min), D Pugh (for Kitson, 89). Not used: S Simonsen, A Griffin, S Olofinjana, M Tonge, I Sonko. Next: Chelsea (a).

Liverpool (4-4-1-1): J M Reina 6 - J Carragher 5, S Hyypia 7, M Skrtel 5, F Aurélio 6 - Y Benayoun 5, Lucas Leiva 5, J Mascherano 6, A Riera 5 - S Gerrard 7 - D Kuyt 6. Substitutes: F Torres 6 (for Riera, 60min), R Babel (for Benayoun, 76). Not used: D Cavalieri, A Dossena, R Keane, D Plessis, N El Zhar. Next: Everton (h).

Referee: Lee Mason Attendance: 27,500