Liverpool managed to ascend the Premier League summit after another disappointing draw with another disappointing side like West Ham - their title aspirations remaining only that - hopes coated with glitter and hardly any substance. It is hard to imagine that in two matches in a row at Anfield Liverpool can't score a single goal. And when the tactics apparently consist of hoofing and crossing the ball constantly in the box, one is left to wonder why Rafa sold Crouch in the first place and settled for Keane who hardly sniffed the ball all night. Crouch scored 18 plus goals last campaign, bearing in mind he only ever came out as a sub. It would be hard to imagine Keane coming even close to that feat.

It was a great atmosphere at Anfield, with the noise level high and a mosaic calling for the release of Michael Shields. The tone was set for a night when Liverpool were looking to send out another message; this time to their title rivals, that they were indeed going to be strong contenders for this year's Premier League crown.

Rafael dispatched his troops with four changes from the side that edged into the last 16 of the Champions League at the expense of Marseilles. When some people read the lineup, they must have had a strange reoccurring feeling of deja-vu. This will be another night of Fulham and Stoke City. The reds only required a point to leapfrog ahead of Chelsea at the top of the table after the Blues had a miserable night of their own with Arsenal.

It is apparent that when Liverpool play away from Anfield they play better. Either because there is less pressure on them, or because the home team needs to attack, thus they subsequently open up more space which the Reds exploit on the counter attack and punish them accordingly. But when teams come to Anfield, they all mass 10 defenders behind the ball, and Liverpool are left strangled of ideas, whereby they proceed with crossings, crossings, and more crossings. It is alarming that Liverpool's most dangerous man on the night was the good-old Sami Hyypia.

Even worse for the reds, the most clear cut, dangerous moment of the entire match came from the battling Hammers, who by the way fully deserved the point with their organised and determined defensive play. Craig Bellamy almost punished Liverpool when he struck the post from nearly 30 yards before the interval with a venomous shot that rocketed past the left post of Pepe Reina.

Cole then repeated Collins' defensive heroics when he cleared off the line from another Hyypia header. That was only moments after Durk Kuyt had powered a header of his own in the opening seven minutes of the match.

Liverpool continued to exert total control. At some point the ball possession was 84 per cent for Liverpool and nine corner kicks to zero, eight against one shot on goal. But the Reds could not unlock the Hammers' gate. Steven Gerrard also had a bad night with half a dozen long range attempts on goal, every one one of them wide. Robbie Keane hardly touched the ball, and was substituted by youngster David Ngog with 25 minutes left.

Just why Ryan Babel was left on the bench until the 82nd minute when Liverpool clearly needed the young dynamo is another mystery. It was Ryan Babel who within three minutes of play produced what was possibly the most potent shot on goal all night for Liverpool, which did not originate from a crossing or a corner kick.

With the countdown to Christmas now on, how Rafael Benitez would have wished for an early gift from his Liverpool frontmen, but it wasn't to be and when Hyypia nodded another corner agonisingly wide, it became clear that they would have to settle for another frustrating Anfield stalemate.

Liverpool: Reina, Dossena, Hyypia, Carragher, Arbeloa, Riera, Gerrard (captain), Alonso, Benayoun, Kuyt, Keane. Subs - Mascherano, Insua, Kelly, Ngog, Babel, Leiva, Cavalieri

West Ham United: Green, Ilunga, Collins, Upson, Neill (captain), Faubert, Mullins, Parker, Behrami, Cole, Bellamy. Subs - Noble, Boa Morte, di Michele, Tristan, Collison, Lastuvka, Davenport

Referee: P Walton