Owen 29, Heskey 51, Gerrard 86 Match Report 
The difference between the teams was quite simply the fact that one side still has everything to play for over the next week or so, whilst for the other, the season can't really finish quick enough.
With David Dunn back on the treatment table, fit-again Mikael Forssell returned up front alongside Clinton Morrison in the only change from the side that drew 0-0 with Arsenal a week ago. With Maik Taylor still suspended, Ian Bennett continued to deputise between the sticks.
The game was keenly contested early on, but it soon became apparent that a Blues side merely playing for pride were never going to be a match for a Liverpool side who were on top of their game. Emile Heskey saw a cross-shot just elude Michael Owen at the far post, before Sami Hyypia - of all people - screamed a 20-yard drive just over the crossbar.
Blues themselves went close, courtesy of a Morrison shot well saved by Jerzy Dudek after some good football from the home side. The warning signs were there for all to see when Liverpool went forward though, with Heskey and Owen in supreme form. I only hope that the Blues fans who are so dead against a possible summer swoop for Heskey watched him with an open-mind today - the guy was class.
It was Heskey who set up Liverpool's first. Moments after feeding Owen an excellent through ball which Bennett did well to deal with, the former Leicester forward supplied his strike partner with another top drawer ball. Owen did what Owen does best - held of a challenge, from Olivier Tebily, and dinked the ball over the advancing Bennett into the far corner to make it 1-0 after 29 minutes.
Blues toiled before the break to try and hit back, with Forssell causing one or two problems, but the key battle in the middle of the park had been lost. Robbie Savage and Stephen Clemence looked as though they were already on their summer holidays, whilst Dietmar Hamann and most notably Steven Gerrard were in top form.
Seven minutes after the interval, it was effectively game over. The visitors swept forward, and Gerrard crossed for Heskey who finished clinically at the near post. Whilst Owen drifted menacingly in and out of the game, Gerrard and Heskey were simply irresistable and showed Blues up all afternoon.
Liverpool continued to pressurise Blues, who were reduced to ten men after 64 minutes. Gerrard raced on to a through ball, and at the same time raced past the turning and somewhat older Kenny Cunningham. With the England midfielder through on goal, Cunningham brought him down, leaving referee Steve Dunn with no option other than to brandish the red card.
It was probably one of those situations where if you asked Cunningham now what he would do, he'd turn around and say 'Well, we're 2-0, we have nothing to play for this season, and if I get sent off, I'll have to serve a suspension, so I'll just let him go.' This was the heat of the moment though, and hindsight is a wonderful thing, and what's done is done. I suspect that with the way suspensions work, the Blues skipper will miss the first game of next season, just as Matty Upson did this season after seeing red at Newcastle in the penultimate game of last seasons campaign.
The Blues fans knew the game was up, so switched into party mode for the final fixture at St Andrews this season. The ensuing defeat possibly didn't hurt the fans too much, knowing that it severely dampened a certain team from Aston's hopes of European football next season. Shame that...
Having made a triple substitution on the hour mark, Blues had an unfamiliar look about them in the closing stages, with the likes of Damien Johnson, Bryan Hughes and Aliou Cisse all appearing to play out of position. Furthermore, Stern John dropped into a deep midfield role, and strangely looked pretty good, picking the ball up from his defence and picking out passes to his team-mates as well as making some probing runs. Who needs Muzzy Izzet??
Heskey and Owen again went close for Liverpool, before Gerrard sealed the win in the 85th minute. Danny Murphy his a crossfield ball, and the Liverpool skipper finished from an acute angle.
So that was that. It was always going to be a tough game, with Liverpool absolutely desperate for three points and Blues not really needing the points for anything. One other thing, that is perhaps not said enough in football, is that sometimes you just get beat by a much better team. Liverpool were excellent, and Blues were poor. It really was that simple, so credit to them. Gerrard too showed that on his day, he is possibly the most complete midfielder on the planet. Whilst Savage and Clemence put their feet up for 90 minutes, Gerrard was inspirational, and still chasing lost causes into stoppage time - Savage-esque, some might say.
Blues' season has peetered out, which is disappointing, but now the players can go into a complete 'nothing game' at Blackburn next week, relax, try and get a result, and we can all head back to St Andrews next August, to watch Premiership football, and see an even better team playing in the royal blues shirts. Things aren't so bad, after all.