Lacklustre Liverpool were booed off the pitch as Birmingham City held firm in a dull goalless draw at Anfield.
Steve Bruce's men came into the game on the back of a hard fought victory against Bolton last week.
But this was an altogether different test against a formidable looking Liverpool side that had crushed newly promoted Derby County 6-0 in their last match at Anfield.
Surprisingly, the Reds left out in-form hitman Fernando Torres following a midweek Champions League draw with FC Porto as Andriy Voronin partnered Dirk Kuyt in attack.
And despite the Spaniard's introduction on 60 minutes, there was a distinct lack of flair and firepower as the shot-shy Reds belied their tag of title contenders with a dour display.
The Reds started brightly and some slick movement nearly brought the opening goal when John Arne Riise and Ryan Babel combined neatly but the Norwegian fired his shot wide.
Ten minutes later the left-back saw his curling drive whistle just over the crossbar.
Despite the bright opening, Liverpool struggled to unlock Bruce's organised outfit as his five-man midfield stuck to their tasks well.
Apart from the lively Steven Gerrard, Liverpool were out of sorts and never looked like piercing Birmingham's solid defence.
Rafa Benitez's team started the second half much like they did the first with some smart passing but largely disjointed with little penetration as the disgruntled crowd urged the Reds boss to throw on Spanish superstar Torres.
Voronin's turn and shot was the closest they came to a goal before a rotation happy Benitez let loose the former Atletico Madrid marksman.
But the substitution for the ineffective Babel had little impact on the game and Birmingham, who had clearly come for a draw, looked comfortable.Peter Crouch then came on to join Torres and Kuyt in a three-pronged attack.
And the gamble nearly paid off when Torres treated the Kop to a flash of brilliance as he sent an audacious over-head kick narrowly over the bar.
Liverpool were finally starting to look a threat and were denied and almost certain goal when Birmingham right-back Stephen Kelly stopped Crouch with a brilliant last ditch tackle on 84 minutes.
And the lanky striker should have tested Maik Taylor with a free header minutes later but his tame effort sailed over the bar.
Birmingham held on with ease as the disappointed Anfield crowd poured out of the ground at the end of a frustrating encounter.