Liverpool collected a point in Europa League Group K on Thursday evening after an uninspiring 0-0 draw away to FC Utrecht.
Dutchman Dirk Kuyt was in the Liverpool side at Stadion Galgenwaard, against the club with whom he began his career, but neither he nor Fernando Torres ever came close to breaking the deadlock in a game grossly lacking in quality.
The Reds were without rested captain Steven Gerrard as the the sides played out an insipid first half, with neither goalkeeper coming under heavy threat, though the home side did have a goal disallowed.
Ricky van Wolfswinkel, scorer of a hat-trick against Celtic in the qualifiers for this competition, sent an early chance wide from a Dries Mertens set-up for the home side. Liverpool, meanwhile, could not get close at all with Raul Meireles seeing a tame shot saved by Michel Vorm, while Lucas Leiva and Joe Cole both wasted possession to send shots wide.
The disallowed effort came on 26 minutes when, from a Martens corner, Jan Wuytens rammed the ball to the roof of Jose Reina’s net, only for the Dutch team to be penalised - maybe a little harshly - for a foul on Martin Kelly by Jacob Mulenga.
Utrecht kept up the pressure though and Reina dropped a Tim Cornelisse cross at the feet of Edouard Duplan, but a combination of several Reds defenders managed to get it to safety.
Torres then curled an effort wide for the Reds before Reina saved at the feet of Mertens close to the break.
Torres had been mainly quiet in the first half but saw a bit more of the ball in the second, albeit if he continued to fail to find the target. The Spain striker hacked a Glen Johnson cross over the bar not long after the break.
The home side began to grow in confidence though and threatened the Reds’ goal on several occasions, with Reina getting an important touch to a Mulenga cross to keep the ball from the feet of the dangerous van Wolfswinkel, and Meireles then clearing off the line from a Michael Silverbauer header.
Vorm denied a Torres snap-shot from a Kuyt cross and bandaged defender Martin Skrtel headed against the crossbar when Liverpool furnished rare chances, though the latter was flagged for offside anyway.
The home side finished the stronger, with Reina denying a Silverbauer shot and Mulenga seeing an effort deflect wide off the post.
Reds sub Maxi Rodriguez did had a couple of efforts late on but came no closer than his team-mates, who can be happy enough to have gotten the draw and have four points from six in the group as they continue to underwhelm.