Liverpool boss Benitez puts a price on his top-class wish list after Torres pours misery on Pompey

But after seeing Fernando Torres again demonstrate why £21million was money well spent, Benitez will spend this Christmas wishing he could afford a few more like him.

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A win as routine as the score suggests eased the latest mini crisis surrounding the manager following successive Barclays Premier League defeats to Reading and Manchester United and an ill-tempered Carling Cup exit at Chelsea.

Asked to explain why his team can overpower UEFA Cup hopefuls like Portsmouth with such ease and yet continue to come up short against members of the Big Four, Benitez did not hesitate.

"The difference with United and Chelsea is top-class players — all of them," he said.

"When you talk about spending £20m on Torres, how many £20m players do United have? Four or five. Why do you pay £20m? Because they are players who can change games.

"If you have one or two and they have four or five, that could be the difference."

Whether that persuades George Gillett and Tom Hicks to part with that sort of money next month is another matter.

The Americans are believed to be struggling to refinance the £220m they borrowed to fund their Anfield takeover and cost concerns have already led to a rethink over the design of a new stadium.

Although talk of a transfer freeze has been dismissed, it is unlikely Benitez will be a major player when the wheeling and dealing gets under way next week.

Securing Javier Mascherano on a permanent basis would be enough for now, even though it is still unclear if and when the Americans will agree to fund the £17m deal.

Benitez said: "We are working together on a lot of issues and we just have to wait. I have confidence he will stay with us.

"Mascherano gives us balance and allows the others to play their own game. It's really important for players like Torres that they can go forward and sometimes forget they need to defend."

Not that Torres had to inconvenience himself with such trifling matters against a side who themselves forgot to defend at times.

Mascherano was as impressive as the Spaniard in his understated role, but Torres deservedly took the plaudits for terrorising Portsmouth.

The usually unflappable pairing of Sol Campbell and Sylvain Distin were in such a state that when Campbell tried to poke the ball away from Torres after 16 minutes, he deflected it off Distin and into his own net.

That came three minutes after Harry Kewell crossed for Yossi Benayoun to volley in, thus ending any fears of Liverpool suffering a third successive League defeat.

Benjani's strike after the interval briefly disrupted Liverpool's flow, but another defensive mess allowed Torres to stroke home the third.

There was even time to bamboozle Campell again and earn the corner which led to him volleying in his 14th goal of the season.

Pompey's contribution was negligible.

They were level on points before kick-off and on a run of six away wins, but manager Harry Redknapp was right to scoff when asked if he could now contemplate challenging for a Champions League place.

With the African Nations Cup about to deprive him of four men, Redknapp is looking anxiously at the transfer window. But he can only dream about signing players like Torres.

Redknapp said: "The lad's got pace, terrific skill but for that money he should be half decent.

"The African Nations is a big problem. We'll be looking to get three or four in. We've punched above our weight so far this season but we did it last season, too.

"I said at the start of the year I'd be happy with a top-half finish but we've had a great start — 30 points before Christmas.

"The ambition is to take Portsmouth into Europe but I'll take anything above this now."

With Arsenal going to Fratton Park on Boxing Day, it will not get any easier.

Liverpool, meanwhile, head for Derby convinced they are back in the title race — even though they must still go to Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge and the Emirates.

Striker Dirk Kuyt said: "We want to compete with Arsenal, United and Chelsea, so we can't afford to lose any more games.

"But we have the quality to beat them and it's just a matter of time before we do so."