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Fernando Torres fired a hat-trick as Liverpool sent a warning to their Barclays Premier League rivals with a 6-1 win over struggling Hull at Anfield.

Spanish striker Torres scored his three goals within 47 minutes, while Steven Gerrard also hit the target and Ryan Babel added two late goals as a testing first half for the home team transformed into a rout. Barely 30 seconds had passed when Hull goalkeeper Boaz Myhill was required to sprint from his line to save at the feet of Torres who had chased down Gerrard’s through ball.

Myhill was powerless in the 11th minute, however, when Torres opened the scoring. Emiliano Insua fed Albert Riera down the left flank and his pass into the area found Torres who switched the ball from right to left foot with lightning speed.

There was little doubt of the outcome thereafter and the Spaniard did not disappoint as he stroked home his sixth goal of the season into the bottom right-hand corner. It looked plain sailing for Liverpool from there against a Hull team which has won just two of their 27 league games since drawing on this ground last season.

But Liverpool’s defensive fragility at set-pieces and in the air would give Hull hope of getting back into the contest and it took just three minutes for them to find an equaliser. Paul McShane placed a cross onto the head of Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink after 14 minutes and his ball across the area should have been cleared by Martin Skrtel.

Instead, the Liverpool defender only flicked it into the path of Geovanni and the Brazilian, who signed a new two-year deal with the Premier League strugglers this week, buried a magnificent, first-time volley past Pepe Reina. But there was no answer to the irresistible Torres.

After 28 minutes, Yossi Benayoun won the ball impressively from Andy Dawson and slipped a telling pass through to Torres who dribbled his way around two defenders and Myhill along the six-yard line before calmly placing the ball into the empty net. Hull wanted a quick response and Geovanni almost gave it them with a 25-yard strike that rose just over before McShane threatened at a corner.

But the outcome was settled when Torres completed his hat-trick just two minutes into the second half. Benayoun created the goal with a pass that sprung Torres beyond the Hull defence and there was the opportunity for the striker to again show neat footwork in the area. Torres left an embarrassed Ibrahima Sonko in his wake, before placing a left-foot shot through a crowded area into the corner of the goal.

Gerrard’s goal, just after the hour, was somewhat fortunate as a Hull corner broke down and he punted in a long cross towards the far post, Myhill losing the flight of the ball as it looped over his head into the corner of his net.

Hull tired as they pressed forward to try and find some degree of respectability and Glen Johnson, and substitutes Babel and Andriy Voronin all might have scored. Eventually, Babel met Voronin’s 87th minute cross for a simple, unmarked finish just off the goalline and then added his second in the last minute.

“In the last three games he was really good, he is improving his mentality, work-rate and movement and he is now showing his ability but I think he can do it better,” said the Liverpool boss.

“The main thing is the mentality of the player. He is keen to learn and he will improve but how much depends on him.”

Benitez said he was always confident the 25-year-old would become one of the world’s greatest strikers after bringing him to Anfield from Atletico Madrid in 2007.

“If you think about the money we were spending on players we then decided to spend £20million ($A36.84million) on Torres – that was a massive figure for us,” admitted the Spaniard.

“We decided to bring him here because of his quality but also his potential and the future he had.

“We had a lot of confidence he would get better and we are pleased now but he can improve.”

Benitez did not go so far as to class this as a perfect performance – they conceded a goal – but he was impressed by the attitude of his players even when the game was won midway through the second half.

“The first goal was important but after we conceded I thought our second goal made a big difference,” he added.

“The team was playing with confidence, creating a lot of chances and at the end of the game we could change players and think about the next game.

“Six goals is fantastic but it could have been even better because we had more chances at the end.

“The positive thing was the mentality of the team going forward, trying to win the game and still trying to score more goals.”

Hull manager Phil Brown, whose side are second-from-bottom in the Premier League with four points after three successive defeats, could barely contain his anger at the performance.

“I was disgusted with some of the defending, individually and collectively,” he said.

“For me it was demoralising and I hope it was for the players as well.

“People will say Torres was the difference between the two sides but I thought we gifted them the goals.

“To come out in the second half and throw away a third goal and give up our position was disgusting.

“That killed us off and one or two towels went in after that, which is bitterly disappointing from my point of view.

“It is going to have to be uncomfortable for one or two this week – myself included – because there is a little bit of pain flying around at the moment and it is all coming my way.”