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Arne Slot declared he had to “examine my own performance” after the Reds endured a sixth defeat in 7 English top-flight matches on their own turf against Nottingham Forest and insisted he would find a way out of the champions’ slump.

Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, produced the biggest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their club records as Liverpool fell to an eighth loss in eleven fixtures in every tournament. The most expensive domestic acquisition, Alexander Isak, was again unnoticeable and the home side argued the defender's opener 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 admitted the buck rested with him and made no excuses.

“Nobody wishes to listen to me now speaking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 in your own stadium to Nottingham Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I should look at myself initially and my team, but it demonstrates you how a goal can alter the momentum of a match. Earlier I was just waiting for us to net a goal. Later we hardly generated any chances.

“Naturally there is a path forward, especially with the quality footballers we have. Regardless if you triumph or lose when you reflect you are always considering: ‘Where can we do better, where can we make changes?’ but that is different from doubting yourself.

“I want to stress I am accountable for the current defeats. You are answerable 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 far from acceptable and I am responsible for that.”

Liverpool’s performance unravelled as the coach introduced multiple attacking substitutions when chasing the game. “It was the identical away at Nottingham Forest last season,” he remarked. “I took the French defender out and put on [Diogo] Jota and he scored immediately to equalize at 1-1. Then it was brave, currently it’s likely unwise.”

The Anfield side previously were defeated in two successive at Anfield league fixtures by Forest in 1963. The last time they lost consecutive league matches by a three-goal scoreline was in the mid-60s.

The manager commented: “It was extremely poor. Playing on home soil, losing 3-0 regardless of which opponent you face is a very, very bad outcome. Surprising if you consider the first half-hour of the game. I haven’t seen us creating so much in the initial 30 minutes perhaps the whole campaign, and the initial occasion they entered in our penalty area they scored.

“It wasn’t against Manchester City, but in all other game we have been the dominant team and were able to create opportunities. Lately it is nearly constantly that we fail to convert our opportunities and the attempts we allow find the net.”