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Arne Slot declared he had to “examine my own performance” after Liverpool endured a 6th defeat in 7 Premier League games on their own turf against Forest and insisted he would discover a solution from the champions’ slump.

Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, delivered the biggest victory at Anfield in their club records as Liverpool fell to an 8th defeat in 11 matches in every tournament. The most expensive domestic acquisition, Alexander Isak, was again anonymous and Liverpool argued the defender's first goal ought to have been ruled out for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort against Manchester City before the national team pause. But Slot admitted the responsibility rested with him and offered no alibis.

“No one wishes to hear me now talking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 at home to Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I should look at myself first and my squad, but it does show you how a score can change the flow of a game. Earlier I was just hoping for us to net a goal. Afterwards we barely generated anything.

“Naturally there is a way out, particularly with the quality players we have. No matter if you triumph or are beaten when you reflect you are always considering: ‘Where can we improve, in what aspects can we make changes?’ but that is different from questioning your abilities.

“I want to stress I am responsible for the present losses. You are responsible when you are victorious but also liable when you are losing. I can not provide sufficient excuses for us to have the outcomes we have. That is far from acceptable and I am to blame for that.”

The team's display unravelled as Slot introduced multiple attacking changes when chasing the game. “It was the identical on the road at Nottingham Forest last season,” he said. “I substituted the French defender off and put on [Diogo] Jota and he scored immediately to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was courageous, currently it’s likely unwise.”

The Anfield side last lost back-to-back at Anfield league fixtures by Forest in 1963. The most recent occasion they lost back-to-back league games by a 3-0 scoreline was in the mid-60s.

The manager commented: “It was extremely poor. Playing on home soil, conceding 3-0 regardless of which team you face is a very, very bad outcome. Surprising if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the match. I haven’t seen us producing so many chances in the opening 30 minutes perhaps the whole season, and the initial occasion they arrived in our box they found the back of the net.

“It wasn’t against Manchester City, but in every other game we have been the controlling team and were capable to create chances. Recently it is nearly consistently that we miss our opportunities and the attempts we concede find the net.”