Suddenly Liverpool's championship aspirations are in danger of unravelling like an old pullover.

Certainly they lost the thread here yesterday without Michael Owen. Now, far from striding into the new year at the top of the Premiership, they will lose the leadership if Arsenal win at home to Newcastle tomorrow night. And Arsenal are at Anfield next Sunday.

Liverpool losing at Chelsea was hardly a novelty. They had been beaten on their previous five visits and had not won at Stamford Bridge for 12 years. But losing 4-0 - this was something else.

It was Liverpool's worst defeat since being beaten 5-1 at Coventry six days before Christmas in 1992.

Yet again Chelsea saved a supreme performance for a major occasion but even as their supporters rejoiced at seeing Liverpool go the way of Manchester United, beaten 3-0 at Old Trafford a fortnight earlier, such joy must have been accompanied by frustration at the points dropped against lesser opponents on lesser days.

A website recently referred to the Chelsea manager as Claire Rainer, and he does wear the look of an agony aunt. But yesterday only Liverpool appeared in need of counselling. From the second minute, when Graeme le Saux scored for Chelsea for the first time since the last century, they chased the game in vain.

By half-time Chelsea were two ahead and, once Carlo Cudicini had saved a penalty from Gary McAllister, Liverpool's cause become increasingly forlorn.

If Cudicini was instrumental in protecting the half-time lead, then Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was responsible throughout for ensuring that Liverpool's defence never rested in peace. Together with Eidur Gudjohnsen, Hasselbaink gave two of the Premiership's steadiest centre-backs, Stephane Henchoz and Sami Hyypia, their most harrowing experience of the season so far.

The combination of Hasselbaink's vision and touch, and Gudjohnsen's ability to hold the ball under pressure, drawing opponents on to him, frequently disturbed Liverpool's composure, finding space where normally little exists. The task of their defenders was not helped by the inability of an oddly-assorted midfield to get to grips with Mario Stanic, Sam Dalla Bona and Frank Lampard - an efficient but hardly omnipotent force.

With Dietmar Hamann completing a two-match ban, the decision to play Steven Gerrard wide on the right in the first half was a strange one. McAllister and Igor Biscan struggled to get into the match and, although Gerrard was restored to a central position thereafter, Liverpool were still unable to gain the initiative.

Losing Owen will always have the effect on Liverpool's attack of putting a safety button on a rapier's point. And with Chelsea's ascendancy in midfield doing much to deprive Emile Heskey of regular service, they looked as if all they wanted for Christmas was their two front teeth.

Jari Litmanen could do little to disturb the consistent authority in Chelsea's defence of John Terry and William Gallas and for much of the time Liverpool's hopes of a goal lay in Hyypia's advances from the back for set-pieces.

Any thoughts Liverpool might have nurtured of containing Chelsea, wearing them down and seeking victory on the break quickly disappeared. In the second minute Le Saux, moving astutely through the middle of the defence to meet Hasselbaink's cleverly flighted return pass, saw Jerzy Dudek turn one shot onto a post before scoring from the rebound.

When, after eight minutes, Hyypia met a corner from McAllister with a header against bar, there was a suggestion of goals being freely exchanged.

Chelsea, however, remained sharper in all parts of the field. And as acting manager Phil Thompson observed: "When the ball was in the box they seemed more resolute about scoring."

On 28 minutes, as the Liverpool centre-backs converged on Gudjohnsen, the Icelander's pass coincided perfectly with Hasselbaink's run and the Dutchman's precise finish gave Dudek no chance.

Clearly Liverpool needed to score as soon as they could after half-time to stand a chance of saving the match. After 51 minutes Mario Melchiot's ill-judged lunge sent Riise flying but McAllister's penalty was as indeterminate as his team's performance.

Cudicini then thwarted Riise (twice) and McAllister (again) before Hasselbaink instigated the counter-attack which saw Dalla Bona score Chelsea's third after Dudek parried a shot from Lampard. In the last minute Gudjohnsen completed the scoring at the second attempt from Gianfranco Zola's centre. Claire Rainer almost looked happy.

CHELSEA: Cudicini, Melchiot, Terry, Gallas, Babayaro, Le Saux (Zenden 90), Dalla Bona, Stanic (Jokanovic 67), Lampard, Hasselbaink (Zola 88), Gudjohnsen. Subs Not Used: de Goey, Forssell. Booked: Stanic, Gudjohnsen. Goals: Le Saux 3, Hasselbaink 28, Dalla Bona 71, Gudjohnsen 90.

LIVERPOOL: Dudek, Riise, Hyypia, Henchoz, Carragher, McAllister, Gerrard, Murphy, Biscan (Wright 46), Heskey, Litmanen. Subs Not Used: Kirkland, Heggem, Diomede, Partridge. Booked: Heskey, Wright, Murphy.

Referee: M Halsey (Welwyn Garden City).