Although Rafael Benitez maintains that the Premier League is what Liverpool want to win above all, he did not show it yesterday, when he put Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres on the bench. Portsmouth is never the easiest of places to get three points, but even less so when you decide not to start with the players who have made the difference for your team this season.
However, the Liverpool manager was unrepentant about his selection. 'After the international break without training, player selection is difficult,' said Benitez. 'We had 18 players travelling around the world. It's always the same situation - the clubs pay the players and sometimes the national teams use the players.
'I'm really pleased with how we performed in the first half. In the second half they had one or two chances and we had one or two chances. We could win, we could lose, but I thought we deserved at least a draw.'
For Portsmouth it was a moral victory that they have again held their own at home against one of the 'big four', but they had by far the better chances.
Certainly it was a curious affair. For the most part this game bristled with intrigue, even if quality football was in scant supply. The Liverpool fans who travelled in the early hours to arrive for the 12.45 kick-off were almost rewarded with a goal after four minutes, when Peter Crouch nodded down Steve Finnan's cross for Yossi Benayoun, who hit a low half-volley that forced David James into a scrambling save.
But one of Liverpool's biggest problems was delivery in creating clear-cut opportunities and amid their fecklessness Portsmouth got a grip of themselves. Midway through the half they were unlucky not to take the lead when a stinging shot from Sulley Muntari took a heavy deflection off Alvaro Arbeloa, but Pepe Reina dropped quickly to his left to turn it behind.
It was not to be the only time the Liverpool goalkeeper was to come to the rescue of his full-back because, on the half-hour, the assistant referee spotted a tug on Kanu's jersey by Arbeloa inside the area. As penalties go, it was on the soft side and even Harry Redknapp was apologetic about the award, although the Portsmouth manager was less sympathetic to Kanu after the keeper beat away his side-footed effort. 'It was a crap penalty,' said Redknapp. 'I never fancied him, to be honest.'
However, a bigger villain was John Utaka, who had one of the misses of the season. A long punt from James was headed clear from his area by Jamie Carragher, but immediately jabbed back in by Pape Bouba Diop to Utaka. With the goal at his mercy, the Nigerian somehow managed to fire the ball past the left-hand post.
Liverpool's best chance of the second period came after the introduction of their celebrated substitutes. In the 70th minute, a typical swashbuckling burst from Gerrard enabled him to engineer a fantastic opportunity for Torres, but he blazed the ball wide.
As to whether these two dropped points will prove crucial for Liverpool, time will tell, but after being the first manager to see all big four at close quarters, Redknapp is in no doubt where the title is heading. 'If I had to pick a champion, I'd pick Man United,' he said.