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Arne Slot declared he had to “examine my own performance” following Liverpool endured a sixth defeat in 7 English top-flight matches on their own turf against Nottingham Forest and insisted he would discover a way from the champions’ poor run.

Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, produced the biggest win at Anfield in their history as the Merseyside club slipped to an 8th loss in eleven fixtures in every tournament. The most expensive domestic acquisition, Alexander Isak, was once more anonymous and the home side contended the defender's opener should have been disallowed for similar reasons to the captain's chalked-off goal against Manchester City prior to the national team pause. But the manager admitted the responsibility stopped with him and made no excuses.

“No one wishes to listen to me now talking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 at home to Forest,” stated the Liverpool head coach. “I should examine myself first and my squad, but it does show you how a goal can change the flow of a game. Earlier I was just waiting for us to score a goal. Later we barely created any chances.

“Of course there is a path forward, particularly with the talented footballers we have. Regardless if you win or lose when you look back you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we do better, where can we make changes?’ but that is something else from questioning your abilities.

“I want to emphasise I am responsible for the current losses. You are answerable when you are winning but also liable when you are defeated. I can not provide enough reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not acceptable and I am responsible for that.”

Liverpool’s display unravelled as the coach introduced several attacking substitutions when pursuing the match. “It was the same on the road at Forest last season,” he said. “I took Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and put on [Diogo] Jota and he scored straight away to make it 1-1. Then it was brave, currently it’s probably unwise.”

Liverpool previously were defeated in two successive home league fixtures by Forest in the sixties. The last time they lost back-to-back league matches by a three-goal margin was in the mid-60s.

Slot said: “It was extremely poor. Competing at home, losing 3-0 no matter which opponent you encounter is a very, very bad outcome. Surprising if you look at the first half-hour of the match. I haven’t seen us producing so many chances in the opening half-hour maybe the whole season, and the initial occasion they entered in our penalty area they scored.

“It wasn’t at City, but in all other fixture we have been the dominant side and were capable to generate opportunities. Recently it is almost consistently that we fail to convert our chances and the attempts we concede find the net.”