Gerrard 52, 58

                                                                                               Maxi 74

                                                                                               Babel 90 + 4

Liverpool kept alive faint hopes of fourth place with this emphatic-looking victory at Turf Moor, and relegated Burnley in the process.

Four-nil was harsh on the hosts, who matched Rafa Benitez’s men until Steven Gerrard’s deflected shot from the edge of the area gave Liverpool a 52^nd minute lead.

But a wonder strike from the Reds captain finished the game as a contest and two goals in the final 15 minutes gave the score a lop-sided look.

Liverpool’s Pepe Reina made the most difficult save of a quiet first-half, diving low to his left to stop Jack Cork’s free header from a Tyrone Mears cross on 43 minutes.

Reina did well again moments after the interval to keep out Mears’ free-kick from just outside the box.

But Gerrard’s shot from a similar distance took a wicked and decisive deflection to open the scoring.

Six minutes later, he curled a magnificent shot past keeper Brian Jensen’s left-hand after he latched onto a loose ball 25 yards out.

Maxi Rodriguez made it 3-0 on 74 minutes with a neat right-foot shot from Alberto Aquilani’s sublime pass.

And an offside-looking Ryan Babel raced clear to make it 4-0 with virtually the last kick.