DIRK KUYT missed a sitter as Liverpool's frustrations at Anfield continued.
The Dutchman headed wide from five yards as the Reds' forwards again failed to fire against Stoke.
The home side dominated possession but hardly created any chances as they missed the chance to climb above Arsenal into fifth. While they remain unbeaten at home, Liverpool have now slipped to seven draws from 11 games at Anfield.
The point was exactly what Stoke had come for and they left happy after doing a textbook defensive job.
Kenny Dalglish sprung a few surprises in his team selection opting for a 3-4-2-1 formation with Kuyt starting up front.
Andy Carroll was back on the bench despite Luis Suarez's suspension, while Sebastian Coates started his first league game and Jamie Carragher returned.
But despite the hosts having most of the ball, both sides were limited to efforts from range in a relatively uneventful first half.
Stoke's Matthew Etherington forced an early save out of Pepe Reina from the edge of the box while Charlie Adam came close for the Reds, stretching to get on the end of Martin Skrtel's cross across goal but diverting it wide.
Stewart Downing let fly from 20 yards but cleared the crossbar before Jordan Henderson launched a 25-yard effort which tested Tomas Sorensen.
The game continued in similar fashion after the restart with Glen Johnson trying his luck with two left-footed strikes from range but with little success.
Carroll made his entrance in the 59th minute but he only succeeded in blocking Henderson's goalbound volley from Jose Enrique's cross.
Kuyt then missed out with a bad touch after Gerrard's threaded through-ball, but he was guilty of a much worse miss shortly after.
Charlie Adam played through Enrique whose cross took a slight deflection before reaching the unmarked Kuyt, but he hopelessly headed wide with the goal at this mercy.
The Dutch international then nodded into the side-netting at the far post after another cross, while Skrtel's downward header from Craig Bellamy's corner bounced over as the hosts ran out of ideas.
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