Premier League: Stoke 1 Liverpool 0

Stoke City kept up their proud home record against Liverpool with a 1-0 win courtesy of a contentious Jonathan Walters penalty.

The striker was brought down in the box by Jamie Carragher after a tussle between the two and stepped up to slam home in the first half as the Reds’ miserable winless run at the Britannia Stadium continued with a second successive defeat at the ground.

The hosts handed a debut for record signing Peter Crouch against his former club, while Kenny Dalglish made only one change – introducing Martin Skrtel to replace the injured Martin Kelly at right-back – to the side that beat Bolton 3-1, meaning that 35-million-pound man Andy Carroll had to again settle for a place on the bench, this time alongside new boys Craig Bellamy and Sebastian Coates.

Liverpool had the first chance of the game as Luis Suarez capitalised on a high bouncing ball that swirled in the wind by pushing past Matthew Upson, but the Uruguayan’s half-volley took a deflection and flew out for a corner, from which the forward was unfortunate to see a whipped Charlie Adam corner skim off his chest and bobble wide at the far post.

The visitors dominated the early exchanges, but Stoke could have found themselves ahead as a Matthew Etherington free-kick was whipped across the six-yard box, where Ryan Shawcross failed to get a telling connection.

The hosts received a penalty not long after, as Carragher was caught out by a looping Jermaine Pennant ball which Walters chased, and the veteran centre-half foolishly wrapped an arm around his waist, with referee Mark Clattenburg having no hesitation in pointing to the spot despite both players pushing and shoving.

Up stepped Walters, who slammed home down the middle to give the Potters the lead.

Stoke nearly handed Liverpool an instant equaliser as a Jordan Henderson cross was disastrously tipped into the path of Suarez by Asmir Begovic, who was fortunate that Shawcross positioned himself in front of goal to fling himself at the striker’s shot, forcing it wide.

The visitors came close again when Suarez exploited the extra space and rolled a pass across the box to Skrtel, who steamed into the box before smashing over.

Suarez, at the hub of every Liverpool attack, fashioned a chance for himself as he held off Shawcross before rolling around him, only to find the angle too narrow as Begovic comfortably collected his chance.

The second period started slowly but there was a flurry of chances on the 60-minute mark as Jose Enrique freed Henderson with a defence-splitting ball, but with all the time in the world to pick his spot, the youngster fired straight at Begovic and then again from the rebound, with the ball falling to Charlie Adam, who blasted into Upson’s chest before dribbling into the box and seeing a close-range effort pushed wide by the Bosnian shot-stopper.

That flood of chances saw Huth replaced by specialist full-back Andy Wilkinson, and Kenwyne Jones came on for Etherington, while Dalglish threw on Carroll and Bellamy for Dirk Kuyt and Henderson respectively, while Wilson Palacios would soon come on for Rory Delap.

Liverpool’s deadline day signing almost made an instant impact after tearing down the left and floating a cross to the back post, where Downing could only head straight at Begovic.

Suarez was gifted a golden chance to equalise in injury time when Begovic spilled an Adam cross straight into his path, but the 24-year-old lashed his effort wide of the post.