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Liverpool’s title hopes were dealt a severe blow as they were held to a draw by Manchester City at Anfield.

City broke the deadlock when former Liverpool striker Craig Bellamy’s shot was deflected in off Alvaro Arbeloa.

A poor Liverpool had rarely threatened but levelled when Dirk Kuyt poked home after a Yossi Benayoun cross.

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Shay Given saved a powerful Benayoun strike in a frantic finish but the Reds failed to get a winner and trail Manchester United by seven points.

Liverpool have now drawn six and won seven at home, while United have drawn just one and won 12 at Old Trafford.

It is a telling statistic, revealing the story of Liverpool’s failure to break down visitors to Anfield and, with Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso missing, their lack of squad strength and creativity compared to United’s was also highlighted.

The Merseysiders had gone into the game with the pressure of knowing anything less than a win would have delivered a damaging blow to their title aspirations after United beat Blackburn on Saturday.

The gravity of Liverpool’s situation was hard to tell from the majority of their play as they struggled to find any sort of rhythm or fluency.

LAST SEASON’S CORRESPONDING GAME

Liverpool 1-0 Manchester City

4 May 2008 – Ref: Mark Halsey
Liverpool scorer: Torres 58

THIS SEASON’S REVERSE FIXTURE

Manchester City 2-3 Liverpool

5 October 2008 – Ref: Peter Walton
Man City scorers: Ireland 19, Garrido 41
Liverpool scorers: Torres 55, 73, Kuyt 90
Sent Off: Zabaleta (Man City) 67