The Reds struggled to cope with the physical approach of the home side throughout and were undone by second-half goals from Ricardo Fuller and Kenwyne Jones.

With the points lost, Roy Hodgson's side's night was compounded when Lucas Leiva was sent-off for a second bookable offence deep into injury-time.

It means the Reds drop to 11^th in the table, six points adrift of Manchester City who occupy the fourth and final Champions League place.

Significantly, the pre-match talking points had centred upon how Liverpool would combat the threat posed by the set piece delivery of Delap et al. Few sides in the Barclays Premier League can boast an aerial presence as dangerous as Stoke and it was no surprise to see Hodgson respond by bringing in Standard Chartered LFC Player of the Month for October, Sotirios Kyrgiakos in place of Martin Kelly.

The big Greek has been in imperious form so far this season and he was forced into action within 60 seconds, blocking Ryan Shawcross's well-struck shot from the edge of the Reds' penalty area.

The hosts were looking lively and Maxi Rodriguez was perhaps fortunate not to concede a penalty on five minutes when he appeared to haul Fuller down following a long throw from Delap.

The momentum was with Tony Pulis's men and the striker should have done better soon after when he turned into space and smashed over the top.

Liverpool were still stuck in neutral and Reina had to produce a sensational save to keep out Dean Whitehead's blockbuster before Jones flashed a free header wide of the far post.

The home side would have felt they had done enough inside the opening quarter of an hour to be ahead and their dominance was further underlined when Whitehead arrowed another long range effort just past the upright.

The Reds desperately needed some respite and finally had their first effort of note when Kyrgiakos saw his firm header hacked to safety by a Stoke defender.

However, the threat of Delap's long throw continued to cause havoc in the Liverpool defence and only some desperate defending by Jamie Carragher and Kyrgiakos denied Jermaine Pennant a tap-in after Robert Huth had flicked on.

Stoke stopper, Asmir Begovic had been little more than a spectator as the half hour mark approached but he was finally called into action twice in quick succession when he denied both Steven Gerrard and Raul Meireles from distance.

It had been an open half with the Potters well on top in terms of chances created and they should have finally gone ahead on 34 minutes when Matthew Etherington somehow contrived to guide a far post shot wide after Jones had crossed from the right.

The Reds will have been more than happy to have gone in level at the interval and Hodgson would have demanded a marked improvement as the second period got underway.

But once again, it was Pulis's side that took the initiative and on 55 minutes a Delap throw eventually paid dividends. The Reds had several chances to clear under pressure but after an almighty goalmouth melee, Fuller eventually stabbed home from inside the six yard box.

It was no more than Stoke deserved and they could easily have doubled their advantage in the moments that followed as both Delap and Jones dragged volleyed efforts wide.

Liverpool needed a response and almost got it when they put together the move of the match on 62 minutes.

Gerrard fed the ball into Kuyt on the right edge of the Stoke penalty area. The Dutchman turned his marker brilliantly before picking out the run of Maxi, only for the Argentine to see his low first-time shot well blocked by Begovic.

The Reds continued to push for an equaliser late on but after substitute Ryan Babel crashed a speculative 35 yard shot off target, Jones raced through to seal the points before Lucas was dismissed in injury-time.

Liverpoolfc.tv Man of the Match: Jamie Carragher