Like Fulham and West Ham before them, Hull stuffed the midfield tighter than a Christmas turkey. Mix in an attack that has scored as many Premier League goals as the leaders this season and as a result Chelsea are now poised to leapfrog his team with a home win this afternoon.
It could have been worse. Two well-worked goals to the good inside the half-hour, a typically effective Hull had grounds for complaint over both Steven Gerrard counters. 'To say I'm disappointed is an understatement,' said Phil Brown. 'I know you don't get the rub of the green in front of the Kop, but if you're ball watching when balls are coming into the box you're a bad defender. If you're ball watching you're a bad referee, and if you look at their two goals there was two fouls on Michael Turner.'
The disappointment was shared. 'Clearly this kind of game you have to win,' said Benítez. 'Today the game was a little bit frenetic and I feel you have to control these games.'
Hull City as Champions League contenders? Luiz Felipe Scolari has clearly been impressed, the Chelsea manager arguing last week that the division's shock troops would 'end the season fighting for fourth to eighth place'. One thing is for sure, their manager rarely misses a trick.
Aware how Fulham and West Ham had placed bodies around Liverpool's superior central midfield and prospered, Brown redrew his formation to play Nick Barmby off a solo striker, draw the game's early fire, then move promptly ahead.
Bernard Mendy drew Sami Hyypia into a challenge so late he was fortunate not to be cautioned. The Finn headed Geovanni's free-kick away, but only as far as Marlon King, who carefully returned the ball to the area. There, Paul McShane comprehensively outjumped Andrea Dossena to head into the near corner of the net. Hull's second quickly followed.
King switched the ball from left to right wing in one pass and Mendy streamed past Dossena once more to centre. Vainly attempting to recover lost ground, Jamie Carragher turned the ball past Pepe Reina.
Liverpool required a rapid response - and with considerable aid from Alan Wiley found it. When Dirk Kuyt crossed from the right, Albert Riera crashed into Turner's back, taking the defender out of the play. An undefended ball fell to Gerrard to finish with verve.
As fortuitous for Liverpool was the enforced substitution of a vision-impaired Paul McShane that followed. 'I took him off for the safety of the game,' smiled Brown, who had to drag Mendy back to defence and out of the danger area. The shuffling of personnel did nothing for his team's cause.
An equaliser soon followed. Again there was controversy - Kuyt leaning heavily on Turner to head down for Yossi Benayoun as ball made its way via captain to the net. Wiley's oversight had placed Liverpool in the ascendancy and the half ended as if it was the game's conclusion, rather than a midpoint.
Wind removed from red sails, a third of the second half had expired before Hyypia headed against Myhill's post following another questionable refereeing decision. Riera's volley from the edge of the area was unarguable, yet well parried by the goalkeeper.
Minutes drifting away, Benítez turned to Nabil El Zhar ahead of Robbie Keane or the disaffected Ryan Babel. Brown called on Dean Windass; ageing piledriver offering as much as youthful dribbler. Stranger still was Benítez's decision to persist with one striker to the end, inserting Lucas into his midfield as the game petered out. 'We were thinking about using the wingers and I think they were good,' explained Benítez. 'To put more people into the box is not a guarantee.' All his team guaranteed was a smile on Scolari's face.