Alas, it was not to be as the Magpies surrendered a quickfire equaliser, Craig Bellamy firing in after Newcastle failed to clear their lines, and then proceeded to concede twice more in the 2nd half, Bellamy profiting from another defensive mix-up by the vistiors before Steven Gerrard broke free to beat Tim Krul at his near post.
The opening goal and Demba Ba almost levelling the game at 2-2 were the sole bright spots for United on what was another miserable night on Merseyside for the Toon Army.
However, given the nature of the Premier League festive fixture list, Newcastle must now move on quickly as they face another fearsome foe in Manchester United at St James' Park on Wednesday night.
It is another fixture in which Newcastle have a pitiful record, they have not beaten Manchester United in a decade.
If Pardew's side are to change that statistic they must improve significantly in the midfield, an area in which they were overrun on Friday night. Cheick Tiote endured another difficult game in what has been, at best an inconsistent campaign for the Ivorian. Wingers Gabriel Obertan and Jonas Gutierrez struggled to provide any sort of service for Demba Ba, while Haris Vuckic looked lost in the supporting role in behind the main striker.
Yohan Cabaye was perhaps the best of Newcastle's midfielders, but the former Lille man will still be disappointed at the lack of chances created by the midfield four in a game that looked to be there for the taking.
Pardew will also be keen to ensure that his side do not repeat the defensive mistakes that contributed to their Anfield downfall. In recent weeks the defensive solidity that Newcastle demonstrated in the early stages of the season has deteriorated, and that was evident again on Friday night.
All three of Liverpool's goals were disappointing from a Newcastle standpoint, none more so than Craig Bellamy's second, a free-kick that would have be comfortably saved by Krul had right back Danny Simpson not blocked the Dutchman off after a break down of communication with defensive partner Mike Williamson.
That error was the lowpoint of a terrible evening for Simpson, who along with fellow full back Ryan Taylor, struggled to deal with Liverpool's pace on the flanks. Taylor was eventually replaced at Half Time by Italian Davide Santon.
Newcastle will undoubtedly be itching to put Friday's result behind them and make a strong start to 2012, and if they can rediscover their early season defensive solidity and provide better service to the free scoring Demba Ba then they have a good chance of doing that against a Manchester United side that travels to the North East on the back of a 3-2 home defeat against Blackburn Rovers.
Sir Alex Ferguson's men will be the obvious favourites, however with the 50,000 raucous Geordies behind them, Newcastle will believe that they are more capable of making a winning start to the new year.
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