Despite a new look Wigan side that was without Titus Bramble, Antonio Valencia, Wilson Palacios and Emile Heskey, through suspension, injury or transfer, Liverpool could not rise to the challenge.
Benitez's crazy comments that Dowd offered his players no protection smack of a manager hwo is losing the plot faster than his side are dropping out of the title race.
The red half of Liverpool have now drawn seven of their previous ten league game.
Without dwelling on Liverpool's inadequacies, it was clear that there is certainly life after Emile Heskey and Wilson Palacios.
Michael Brown was at his tenacious best in the centre of the park alongside the equally fierce Lee Cattermole.
Unfortunately, Daniel de Ridder failed to replicate the performance he showed as a second half substitute away at Manchester City last week, and Ryan Taylor is little more than a set piece merchant.
Emmerson Boyce came in for the suspended Titus Bramble at the back and was impenetrable alongside the equally impressive Paul Scharner.
Up front, Mido, on his debut, was solid but clearly lacking match action and a little off the pace, whilst Amr Zaki's determination alone is inspiring to the Latics' faithful.
Of the other new signings, Ben Watson, who signed from Crystal Palace this week was an unused substitute, but Hugo Rodallega nearly set the JJB Stadium on fire.
The £4.5 million signing hopefully showed glimpses of what is to come. He looked both powerful and quick and delighted supporters with a neat turn that left Arbeloa for dead.
He then rounded off his game with a 25 yard powerhouse free kick that rattled Pepe Reina's cross bar, leaving the Liverpool goalkeeper with no chance had it been a few inches lower.
All in all, a positive evening. Here is the reaction of those involved.
Steve Bruce
I think we struggled in the first 20 minutes but we changed tactically and matched their midfielders. Once again the resilience of them is there to see.
I thought Boycey, who has had to wait for weeks to get back in the side, was fantastic at the back, and the attitude shown by some of them, like Cattermole, was great in getting amongst Liverpool and tackling everything that moved.
The one thing I've said for a long time is that our boys will stick at it, and for the last 25 minutes they got the bit between their teeth and had a right good crack at it. I thought Mido got better throughout the game.
I think it's the first time he's played 90 minutes in about five months and the one thing the kid wants to do is come here and play football. He's had a great effect on everybody in his attitude in training and I hope that continues.
When you manage a club like Wigan you have to know that sooner or later the big teams are going to want to come and nick your players, especially when you've got good ones, and believe me we've got good players here.
But the one thing I've said to Hugo is to come and use this as a platform. I want him to come here and be a big hit in the Premier League like some of the other players are at the moment.
Rafa Benitez
We are very disappointed because we have lost two points," said Benitez after the game. We were much better in the first half and had control of the game, but we didn't kill it off, which was the problem.
I was talking with my players about what to do on the pitch, but there are always things you cannot control in a game like this.
The players were not nervous - they were working hard and played well in the first half. But things changed in the second half.
It was a crazy game in the second half, and when it's a crazy game you cannot control things. Our last three games have something in common, which I don't like.
When you are at the top of the table, you know that every single game is important. You have to be disappointed when you lose two points, but we have an important game on Sunday, and if we can play like we played in the first half then we can beat anyone.
Yossi Benayoun (Liverpool goalscorer)
Scoring goals is good on a personal level, but the important thing is to play well for the team. I was quite happy with the way I played today, but it obviously wasn't good enough in the end.
We have to try to play better and must score the second goal when we are winning 1-0, but were unable to do that today.
We had a lot of creative players on the pitch and we did our best. Everyone gave 100 per cent against Wigan but sometimes that is not good enough.
But football can be like this. They only had one counter-attack near the end and got a penalty from it. We should have got a second goal before that to make sure of the win.
We are very disappointed and expect to win these games, and we have to start winning games soon - that needs to start on Sunday with a very important game against Chelsea.
The Table
| Latest match Wednesday, 28th January 2009 | Pld | Home | Away | Overall | Pts | GD | |||||||||||||||||
| W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | |||||||||
| 1 | Manchester United | 22 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 15 | 6 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 39 | 10 | 50 | +29 | ||||
| 2 | Chelsea | 23 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 21 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 23 | 6 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 44 | 13 | 48 | +31 | ||||
| 3 | Liverpool | 23 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 20 | 8 | 13 | 9 | 1 | 37 | 15 | 48 | +22 | ||||
| 4 | Aston Villa | 23 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 18 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 12 | 14 | 5 | 4 | 38 | 24 | 47 | +14 | ||||
| 5 | Arsenal | 23 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 20 | 14 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 38 | 25 | 42 | +13 | ||||
| 6 | Everton | 23 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 16 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 31 | 27 | 37 | +4 | ||||
| 7 | Wigan Athletic | 23 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 13 | 13 | 9 | 5 | 9 | 26 | 24 | 32 | +2 | ||||
| 8 | West Ham United | 23 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 18 | 16 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 15 | 9 | 5 | 9 | 31 | 31 | 32 | 0 | ||||
| 9 | Manchester City | 22 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 27 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 19 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 41 | 31 | 28 | +10 | ||||
| 10 | Hull City | 23 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 23 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 21 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 29 | 44 | 27 | -15 | ||||
| 11 | Fulham | 21 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 19 | 18 | 26 | +1 | ||||
| 12 | Sunderland | 23 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 13 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 17 | 7 | 5 | 11 | 24 | 32 | 26 | -8 | ||||
| 13 | Tottenham Hotspur | 23 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 13 | 19 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 24 | 28 | 24 | -4 | ||||
| 14 | Bolton Wanderers | 23 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 16 | 20 | 7 | 3 | 13 | 24 | 32 | 24 | -8 | ||||
| 15 | Portsmouth | 22 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 14 | 18 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 17 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 22 | 35 | 24 | -13 | ||||
| 16 | Newcastle United | 23 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 18 | 19 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 20 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 29 | 39 | 23 | -10 | ||||
| 17 | Blackburn Rovers | 22 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 15 | 19 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 19 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 27 | 38 | 22 | -11 | ||||
| 18 | Middlesbrough | 23 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 15 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 20 | 5 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 35 | 21 | -17 | ||||
| 19 | Stoke City | 23 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 27 | 5 | 6 | 12 | 20 | 38 | 21 | -18 | ||||
| 20 | West Bromwich Albion | 23 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 16 | 21 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 21 | 6 | 3 | 14 | 20 | 42 | 21 | -22 | ||||
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