It was little more than most of us expected but another startling collapse followed an unfortunate opening goal as we took yet another pounding at Anfield.

Three goals in nine minutes either side of the break did the damage and we have now conceded 17 goals in the last six games, while scoring just three.

That means that our goal difference of -26 is now the second worst in the Premiership, behind doomed Derby's massive -44.

With Liverpool looking to press down the right flank through Pennant from the off, Jose Enrique was put under pressure frequently - although receiving minimal cover from N'Zogbia in front of him.

At the other end our challenge extended to forcing a handful of corners, but the ploy of dropping Smith into midfield and pushing Duff through the middle did little to make Michael Owen's second Anfield return as a Magpie any more productive than the first.

Harper reacted well to push one Torres effort away, but with the home fans starting to get restless and the game being played in near silence, save for the constant shouts of the away end, another slice of ill-fortune sank us.

Facing the byline in his own box, Jose Enrique's sought to clear downfield rather than concede a corner, only to hit the ball off Jermaine Pennant and see it loop over a helpless Harper and into the unguarded net.

TV pictures showed an ashen-faced Kevin Keegan on the Newcastle bench in vaguely similar pose to that caught by cameras in the first of the infamous 4-3 games here.

The spirit visibly ebbed out of Newcastle at the point, that old cliche about heads dropping summing us up neatly.

Two minutes later Steven Gerrard ripped through our static rearguard and Torres supplied an excellent finish on the stroke of half-time, with the crocked Milner giving way to Geremi before the game restarted.

And when Liverpool strode down the centre of the field and Steven Gerrard rifled in a third just six minutes after the break, a rout looked on the cards.

However Benitez withdrew Gerrard and Torres with one eye on his side's midweek trip to Milan and their replacements Kuyt and Crouch contributing little.

Only a remarkable strike from substitute Obafemi Martins gave us anything to remember from another Anfield disaster as he thumped a volley from fully 40 yards that hit the bar with Reina stranded.

Two other Premiership results compounded the agony with Reading beating Manchester City and Fulham coming from behind to take a point at Ewood Park.

We now sit 14th, three points above Bolton and having played a game more than most of the other sides below.

Should Wigan or the mackems get any points from their home fixtures on Sunday then we'll slip further into the danger zone ahead of Monday week's trip to Birmingham.

Full match report to follow.

Team: Harper, Beye, Faye, Taylor, Jose Enrique, Milner (Geremi 44), Butt, N'Zogbia, Duff (Martins 58), Owen, Smith.
Subs n/u: Forster, Cacapa, Carroll.

LFC: Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Skrtel, Riise, Alonso, Lucas, Pennant (Hyypia 78), Gerrard (Kuyt 66), Benayoun, Torres (Crouch 72).
Subs n/u: Itandje, Babel.

Booked: Riise (25 - foul on Milner)

Goals: Pennant 43, Torres 45, Gerrard 51

Crowd: 44,031

Referee: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire)

Kevin Keegan commented:

"The opening goal was a freak one and that's the sort of luck we need going for us at the moment.
"But the second goal killed us, it was bad to concede straight away and 2-0 down here at half-time, it's difficult.

"Prior to that I was relatively pleased but we were blown to bits in the space of three crazy minutes. Were we unlucky to lose? No. They were better than us."