For all the mitigating factors, the overriding feeling after yet another day of frustration at Anfield was that this is just how it is, and how it will be, for Liverpool.
Liverpool 1 Aston Villa 1
For all the mitigating factors, the overriding feeling after yet another day of frustration at Anfield was that this is just how it is, and how it will be, for Liverpool.
Once again there was an impressive performance from the visiting goalkeeper, there could have been a couple of penalties, among so many controversies that Kenny Dalglish was forced to clarify which incidents he was talking about at length, and the number of times they have hit the woodwork this season was increased to 35 occasions in all competitions.
But a team of Liverpool's pretensions should have enough about them to overcome such ill-fortune and the recurring theme of bad luck and missed opportunities can only go on for so long.
A team that contained six defensively-minded players got a little more negative after Chris Herd gave them the lead after nine minutes and the hosts had to wait until there were just nine minutes remaining to grab a draw through Luis Suarez's close-range header.
Liverpool felt they should have been awarded a penalty when Suarez went down under Alan Hutton's challenge early on and Dalglish felt Stephen Ireland could have broken Suarez's foot in a challenge that resulted in the Uruguayan booked for diving.
But the main talking point was a second-half handball call, when the ball appeared to strike Eric Lichaj's hand under pressure from Dirk Kuyt, with Dalglish claiming referee Mike Oliver had said the Villa defender was "unlucky" for the ball to have hit his hand, presumably because he did not believe the Villa defender had handled on purpose.
The first two points were particularly hard to argue with but, just like the draws against Norwich, Swansea, Blackburn, Stoke and the defeat against Wigan, they should be minor footnotes after a home victory rather than excuses.
As it is Liverpool have only won five of their 16 home matches, scoring just 20 goals, and their exile from the Champions League will be extended to three seasons.
While Dalglish, with a Carling Cup win and an FA Cup semi-final against Everton to look forward to next weekend, need have no real concerns over his job, it is hard to make a case for a guaranteed top-four place for next season.
The Scot, who defender Suarez before the Uruguayan was banned for eight matches for racially abusing Patrice Evra, insists he does not feel there is an agenda against the Anfield club.
"I've never heard a penalty not be given by a referee who said 'The boy was unlucky'. What chance have we got?" Dalglish said. "Even Suarez's booking, the guy's trod on him. It's a joke because you can imagine the headlines when he's been booked for diving and he's lucky he hasn't broken his foot.
"Even in the last three games, there have been a number of decisions that haven't gone our way. We just need to keep going. Maybe we're too polite.
"I think if we keep trying it will turn but sometimes for some people paranoia will set in and you think there's an agenda against the football club from people of importance. We don't see it that way but I suppose other people will do and when you see the effort and commitment they put into it for them to refuse a penalty and say the opponent is unlucky doesn't add up."
What is easier to calculate is that this is the club's worst run of form in 59 years and that Dalglish's side are now 15 points behind fourth place and only above the relegation zone by the same figure.
They looked to have got off to a fast start against Villa, with Kuyt's effort from a narrow angle being pushed on to the post by Shay Given after a couple of minutes.
But 10 minutes in, Villa took the lead when Alexander Doni failed to clear Stephen Warnock's cross and Barry Bannan pulled back for Herd, whose only previous goals had come during loan spells at Port Vale and Lincoln City, to guide a shot into the top corner.
The hosts were limited to hopeful pot-shots until the first Suarez penalty appeal and Kuyt managed to lift over from two yards in his attempts to turn in a mishit shot from Steven Gerrard.
After the break, a cross from Gerrard, who was shunted to the right flank after failing to make a difference playing behind Suarez, was headed onto the post by Suarez before Given clawed the ball away.
The pressure told when Craig Bellamy's corner was headed away by James Collins, only for Gerrard to whip a fine cross that was headed on to the bar by Daniel Agger before Suarez headed in.
Villa withstood the onslaught to keep their point and their manager Alex McLeish said: "It was a tough, tough second half but for the bad luck we've had in recent weeks we deserved something." It was a familiar refrain.
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