The Reds had a penalty appeal waved away inside the opening minute when Manuel Pamic appeared to handle a Raul Meireles free-kick, but they had some fortune at the other end as Libor Sionko and Victor Kadlec both failed to hit the target with decent chances.
Kadlec’s header then brought a decent save out of Pepe Reina before Liverpool responded, Sotirios Kyrgiakos’ header forcing Jaromir Blazek to scramble across his goal as the ball threatened to creep into the net.
Reina almost gifted Prague a crucial away goal when he missed the ball when attempting to punch clear, but Sionko and Kadlec got in each other’s way and could not take the chance.
At the other end in-form Meireles could not get his volley on target and Joe Cole was denied by a decent stop from Blazek, but just as it looked as though there would be an extra 30 minutes at Anfield, the Reds snatched the win.
Kuyt met a Meireles corner to head home what proved to be the winner, and Joe Cole could have made the scoreline look a little more convincing but he shot wide while one-on-one with the goalkeeper.