A sensational second half performance by Liverpool left Derby County devastated as the relegation candidates suffered a humiliating 6-0 thrashing by Rafa Benitez's men on Saturday.

Xabi Alonso and Fernando Torres scored two goals each while Ryan Babel and Andriy Voronin added one each to complete the rout that sees Liverpool move to the top of the table for the first time under Rafa Benitez. The loss leaves Derby with just one point of five matches after a terrible start to the season.

The visitors were on the back foot right from the start as Stephen Bywater was pressed into service early to deny Daniel Agger's shot from 25 yards and had to be at his best to save Torres' header. Derby managed to hold out for 27 minutes but Liverpool finally took the lead through Alonso.

Alonso's curling free kick from the left was missed by everyone including Bywater and settled into the net as Liverpool finally managed to break the deadlock. Liverpool continued to lay siege on the Derby goal but without much success. However the hosts doubled the lead just before half time as Babel scored a sensational goal to open his account for Liverpool.

The Dutch midfielder latched on to a ball from Alvaro Arbeloa before beating Andy Griffin and Claude Davis and smashing the ball past Bywater. Things did not improve for Derby in the second half as they conceded a third in the 56th minute when Torres latched on to Javier Mascherano's pass before slotting the ball past Bywater.

Thirteen minutes later it was 4-0 as Alonso pounced on a rebound shot by Yossi Benayoun and drove in an 18-yard shot into the bottom corner. Substitute Andriy Voronin got the fifth in the 76th minute after some good work by Kuyt saw Bywater parry the ball straight to the Ukrainian striker who made no mistake from a couple of yards out.

Liverpool scored a sixth two minutes later when Torres pounced on a poor back-pass by Andy Todd before rounding Bywater to pas the ball into an empty net. Derby went on the defensive and managed to hang on to the remaining 10 minutes without any damage.