Drab draw for Reds as there's not much to shout about.

After making promises earlier in the week Roy Hodgson apologised to the fans for misleading them about the team selection in a team that only contained a few first team players. Martin Skrtel was the most experienced player in the team and he captained Liverpool on his 26th birthday. There was however lots of experience on the bench in the form of Kuyt, Torres, Kyrgiakos, Johnson and Meireles. The game didn't mean much to Liverpool as they were already guaranteed top spot in the group however it was a good chance for players to find for again or get match fit.

Jovanovic created the best chance of the game early on in
what was a rather dull game.

The stadium was rather full despite there being nothing to play for, due to a kind gesture from the new owners which allowed all under 17's free entry when with an adult and with tickets at a reduced price anyway there was a good attendance. The Utrecht fans also played their part in creating a good atmosphere as over 4,000 of them had made the trip over and they were inside Anfield and singing a full 2 hours before kick off. Not much happened to entertain the fans in the early stages until after 8 minutes when Milan Jovanovic took the ball past a few players before shooting left footed from 30 yards out which the keeper tipped on to the bar. 8 minutes later Liverpool won themselves a free kick just outside the box after Babel was fouled but Aurelio couldn't get it over the wall and the chance was gone. Nothing else of note happened in the first half in a performance which lacked ambition and drive so typical of Roy Hodgson despite the large number of changes to the team.

The second half started similarly to the first half with the only change being Kyrgiakos replacing Skrtel and also taking the captains armband. The Utrecht fans kept up the singing and created a great atmosphere in the process. The game seemed to change when Dani Pacheco came on for Liverpool and the Spanish starlet was creating things for Liverpool as soon as he came on. This made the game much more open however as now Utrecht where attacking more and they even had a few shots for their fans to cheer about. It wasn't long before they had something else to cheer as with 20 minutes to go their former player Dirk Kuyt, who was much loved during his 5 years there (as he is now at Liverpool).
Joe Cole then had a chance when a cross found him at the back post but his shot was blocked by the Utrecht defense. Another Cole free kick was then charged down and the ball went out wide and was crossed back in again only for Cole to flick it straight into the keepers hands in the 88th minute. The game then ended up 0-0 with very little entertainment and a very poor showing from Liverpool typical of this season under Hodgson.
Even though Liverpool had already qualified top of their group there was still a definite chance for the second string to stake a claim for a place in the first team however all that can be taken from the game is the proof, if needed, that Liverpool don't have the quality in the squad to compete for anything this year and some new signings are needed if they are to even come close.
The draw for the next round of the Europa League is on Friday and Liverpool's next game is at home to Fulham at 5.30 on Saturday where I'll hopefully have more to report on.