RAFA Benitez admitted it was hard to explain Newcastle's Boxing Day horror story.

And to make matters worse, the manager again admitted that he has no idea whether he will be able to bring any fresh faces into the club in the coming weeks.

Anfield has been the home to some of the Spaniard's finest managerial moments.

But he could not get out of the stadium fast enough last night, humbled by rampant Liverpool.

Defensive errors cost Newcastle dear for the first two goals - grabbed by Dejan Lovren and a Mohamed Salah penalty - before Liverpool crushed Newcastle in the last 15 minutes, adding further finishes from Xherdan Shaqiri and Fabinho.

On another day, Newcastle could have left Merseyside with a point.

But their blunders meant the Magpies were then constantly chasing the game.

And as Liverpool look to end their long wait for the English top-flight title, the home side twisted the knife and left Benitez scratching his head.

Benitez said: "It is difficult to explain when you lose a game in the way we lost.

"We started well, we had our chance, we didn’t take our chance, we made a mistake and we were in the game against a very good team.

"We had some moments in the first half when we were pushing and we went in 1-0 at half-time. But then the second half was a soft penalty, it changed everything and now you have to explain why we concede four goals.

"The first goal was the key moment and that changed our confidence and after the second one, it's difficult to react against a very good team."

Benitez also made the stark admission that the long-awaited desire to sign some fresh talent is unlikely to be happening next month.

When asked if any new signings were on the horizon, Benitez's one word answer - "no" - said it all as did his answer to the follow up questions when he responded "yes" when asked if that worried him.

On a day of few positives for Benitez and his men, the debut showing of Sean Longstaff, who showed plenty of character to make his debut during such a difficult match, was one bright spot.

And Benitez is hopeful that the 21-year-old can mature into a real force for the club.

He added: "There are good and bad memories for him. [It was his] debut at Anfield, in a very good atmosphere but bad memories because we lost the game. He did well and could have scored. That is positive because he's a young lad coming here and he wasn't scared of trying to do something. Hopefully he can be an important player for us in the future."