Town fell to their worst home defeat in the Premiership as a rampant Liverpool side took them apart. A fairly even first half looked to be ending 1-0 to the away side, but a Heskey goal just before half-time was the signal for a superb second half attacking display for the the Reds.
Town lined-up as at Everton, but playing 4-4-2. Marcus Stewart was once again on the bench.
Danny Murphy had Liverpool's first effort on two when Andy Marshall flipped his floating shot over the bar. At the other end Mark Venus hit a freekick to Dudek after Bent had been fouled by Hyypia.
Murphy came close to a goal on ten when Andy Marshall dived at his feet after he had been played in by Xavier and Owen.
On 14 Marshall, the busier of the two keepers, rushed out to beat Owen to a through ball. Play moved quickly to the other end and Jamie Clapham had a shot charged down. Liverpool broke swiftly and Marshall again did well, preventing Heskey scoring with his legs.
From the resulting corner, however, Marshall was less than impressive and his flap allowed the ball to run to Michael Owen on the other side of the box. He put the ball across the face of the goal and Makin put it out for another corner. Again Marshall failed to gather the ball and it was half cleared. Abel Xavier hit a shot form the edge of the area which Chris Makin diverted past his own keeper to make it 1-0.
Immediately Town came close to an equaliser, Marcus Bent heading to Dudek when he ought to have done better from Hreidarsson's deep cross. Thenn Peralta hit a shot across Dudek which the Pole saved well to his right.
There was controversy on 20 as Stephen Wright went in high and two-footed on Jermaine Wright The Town man was left on the floor in a heap, eventually being replaced by Marcus Stewart with Armstrong moving to an unfamiliar right midfield role. However, referee Bennett had seen no foul and Wright (S) got away with it. We'd be interested to see replays as the waist-high challenge looked to be what's generally referred to as a 'horror tackle' these days.
Possession was reasonably 50/50 with both sides having spells where they were on top. It was Liverpool though who were creating the better chances.
Had Town gone into the break with the score still at 1-0 then the result may have been quite different. However, Heskey ran on to a long pass forward on 43 and hit a shot across Marshall into the corner of the net. There looked to be no way back from here for Town and that was to be the case.
From the start of the second half Liverpool were on top and Marshall rushed out to beat Owen to a ball played into his path within a few seconds of it starting.
On 51 Owen ran past a couple fo defenders and hit a shot from the left which Marshall saved. Within a minute the Town keeper was doing much the same from a similar Riise effort and Liverpool had another corner. From this Hyypia headed home off a post to give Liverpool a three goal lead.
Sixto Peralta almost had a run on goal on 54 as he just failed to complete a one-two with Stewart, but in the main it was Liverpool who were breaking with a great deal of pace from numerous players.
Liverpool keeper Jerzy Dudek was replaced after 56 minutes and Pegguy Aphrexad came on. Dudek had been a doubt with a groin injury before the match.
Liverpool's fourth came just after the hour. Riise made a run down the left and Owen lashed home while unmarked in the middle. By now Town were pretty much all over the place and the less resilient members of the Blues' support were making their way to the car parks.
The fifth, and Owen's second, saw the England striker make a speedy run on the right of the penalty area before he hit a shot across Marshall into the net. It was an impressive goal and even a number of Town supporters applauded.
Town kept looking for a goal and Holland, Stewart and Bent all had chances. Peralta continued to make the effort in midfield and he can certainly hold his head high.
The scoring ended with Heskey's second. The former Leicester man hit a shot past Marshall for the edge of the area and that was that.
It is difficult to assess Town's performance on a day when Liverpool were simply too good for them. The visitors, particularly in attack, were at their best while Gerrard in midfield always kept them supplied.
6-0 at home is an embarrassment, but Liverpool are on top form and beat Leeds 4-0 at their place last week. Town's mission remains an avoidance of relegation and this defeat does little to change that.