Liverpool's faint title hopes all but disintegrated on a bitterly cold evening at Anfield after a 1-1 draw with Premier League strugglers Wigan.
Rafael Benitez's men couldn't keep the pressure on Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal, who all started the new year with wins.
Surprisingly it was Wigan who started the brighter and Steve Bruce's men were close to taking a shock lead in the 17th minute.
A poor header out from Reds skipper Steven Gerrard landed straight at the feet of Michael Brown.
The tenacious midfielder controlled the ball on his chest before unleashing a 25-yard thunderbolt which skimmed past Pepe Reina's right-hand post.
Liverpool's first real chance came the way of Argentinian midfielder Javier Mascherano.
Mascherano played a neat one-two with Fernando Torres, finding himself with only Wigan keeper Chris Kirkland to beat.
But Macherano was unable to register his first Premier League goal and Kirkland pulled of a smart save down low.
But Benitez's men certainly weren't having the game their own way as Wigan again threatened the opposition goal after good work by Antonio Valencia down the right.
The speedy winger left Harry Kewell in his wake before driving at the heart of Liverpool's defence.
Valencia then played a neat one-two with team-mate Marcus Bent, but the resulting shot flew high and wide of Reina's goal.
The last chance of the half fell to Liverpool's skipper. Gerrard received the ball of Torres but he dragged his shot wide of the goal.
But Liverpool broke the deadlock just five minutes after the break thanks to their prolific marksman Torres.Steve Finnan found space in Wigan's penalty box after a great one-two with Gerrard.
Finnan looked like he would pull the trigger himself but cleverly pulled the ball across goal for Torres to slide the ball into the net from six yards.
Gerrard again went close for Liverpool on the hour mark as, after Brown had brought down Torres, the skipper hit a thunderbolt free-kick towards Kirkland's goal.
The former England keeper could only parry the shot, but Titus Bramble prevented a certain goal after a last-ditch tackle on Mascherano following up.
It looked like Liverpool could run riot but Bramble scored a shock equaliser from 20 yards on 80 minutes.
Liverpool failed to clear a free-kick and, after a scramble in the box, the ball fell to Bramble on the edge of the penalty area.
Bramble hit it first time and the ball flew past Reina and into the net for the centre-back's second goal in two games.
Gerrard looked like he had grabbed a late winner for his team after a 25 yarder stung the palms of Kirkland.
Gerrard followed in on the rebound but Kirkland reacted well to pull of a fantastic point-blank save.
In the end, Wigan held out for a well-deserved point and Liverpool's title hopes must surely be gone for another season.