Winter on Tyneside is threatening to be a long and hard one for Newcastle fans after Sam Allardyce's side were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by a rampant Liverpool at St James' Park.

Goals from Steven Gerrard, Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel made it a thoroughly miserable afternoon for the Magpies as Allardyce became the focal point for a torrent of criticism from an aggrieved home crowd.

Newcastle's defensive frailties were once again exposed as they were ripped apart by a Liverpool side whose title credentials are now beginning to gather weight.

Allardyce named a new-look back line, consisting of Geremi, Habib Beye, David Rozehnal and Jose Enrique, in an effort to shore up his side's leaky defence, but the quartet's unfamiliarity with each other was all to clear to see as they were torn apart by wave after wave of Liverpool attacks.

The opener came, somewhat inevitably, from Gerrard, whose every touch had been met with a chorus of jeers from the home crowd from the outset - a legacy of the stand-in England captain's performance against Croatia earlier in the week.

But Gerrard is clearly a big enough man not to let the boo boys affect his concentration and he promptly stepped up to lash home a 30-yard free-kick to deservedly put Liverpool ahead in the 28th minute. The boos petered out soon after.

Liverpool had so dominated proceedings that Newcastle were rarely able to get out of their own half, let alone threaten as an attacking force. Alan Smith came closest to grabbing something, but his smart volley on 38 minutes flew past the far post as goalkeeper Shay Given floundered, while Mark Viduka saw his late consolation ruled out for offside.

Given had earlier denied Gerrard a crisp shot that moved quite significantly in the air, before the Irishman went unpunished for handling outside his area to deny Fernando Torres a certain goal just before half-time. It was a lucky escape for Newcastle, doubly so as Torres's second effort hit an upright when he had an empty goal to aim at.

But that was where Newcastle's luck was to end and they were two down soon after the break, as Sami Hyypia turned on a Gerrard corner for Kuyt to apply the finishing touch from close range with his shin.

It was a real hammer blow for the hosts, and for Allardyce, who was forced to realise his team talk in the dressing room would now count for nothing.

Babel, a 58th minute replacement for the returning Harry Kewell, sealed all three points for Liverpool with a fine finish to a move he had started himself. Gerrard was again involved, and it was his final pull back to the edge of the box which the Dutchman latched on to and rifled past Given.

The result lifted Liverpool into third place, at least until Chelsea play Derby later in the day.

Mike Hytner / Eurosport