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Arne Slot stated he needed to “examine my own performance” after the Reds suffered a 6th defeat in seven Premier League games on their own turf to Nottingham Forest and insisted he would discover a way out of the champions’ slump.

Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop prior to the match, produced the biggest win at Anfield in their history as the Merseyside club fell to an 8th loss in 11 matches in every tournament. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was again unnoticeable and Liverpool contended the defender's first goal ought to have been disallowed for comparable grounds to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal versus Manchester City before the international break. But the manager conceded the responsibility stopped with him and made no excuses.

“No one wants to hear me now talking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 in your own stadium to Nottingham Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I should examine myself initially and my team, but it demonstrates you how a goal can change the momentum of a match. Earlier I was just hoping for us to score a strike. Later we barely generated anything.

“Naturally there is a path forward, especially with the quality players we have. No matter if you triumph or lose when you look back you are always considering: ‘In which areas can we do better, where can we adjust?’ but that is different from doubting yourself.

“I want to emphasise I am accountable for the current defeats. You are responsible when you are victorious but also liable when you are defeated. I can never come up with enough excuses for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not acceptable and I am to blame for that.”

Liverpool’s performance fell apart as the coach made multiple offensive changes when chasing the match. “It was the same on the road at Nottingham Forest last season,” he remarked. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and brought on the Portuguese forward and he scored straight away to make it 1-1. At that time it was courageous, currently it’s probably stupid.”

The Anfield side last lost two successive home Premier League games by Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they suffered consecutive top-flight matches by a 3-0 scoreline was in the mid-60s.

Slot said: “It was very bad. Competing on home soil, conceding 3-0 regardless of which team you face is a very, very bad outcome. Unexpected if you consider the first half-hour of the match. I haven’t seen us creating so many chances in the initial 30 minutes perhaps the entire campaign, and the first time they arrived in our box they scored.

“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in every other fixture we have been the controlling team and were capable to create chances. Recently it is almost constantly that we miss our opportunities and the ones we concede find the net.”