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Arne Slot stated he had to “examine my own performance” following Liverpool suffered a 6th defeat in 7 English top-flight games on their own turf to Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would find a way out of the champions’ poor run.

Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop before kick off, delivered the biggest victory at Anfield in their club records as the Merseyside club slipped to an 8th defeat in eleven matches in every tournament. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was again anonymous and the home side argued the defender's opener should have been disallowed for similar reasons to the captain's chalked-off goal against City prior to the national team pause. But the manager admitted the buck rested with him and offered no alibis.

“Nobody wishes to listen to me now talking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 in your own stadium to Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I should look at myself first and my team, but it demonstrates you how a goal can alter the flow of a match. Earlier I was just hoping for us to net a goal. Later we barely created any chances.

“Naturally there is a way out, particularly with the talented footballers we have. No matter if you win or lose when you look back you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we do better, in what aspects can we make changes?’ but that is something else from questioning your abilities.

“I wish to stress I am responsible for the current losses. You are responsible when you are winning but also liable when you are defeated. I can never come up with enough reasons for us to have the results we have. That is far from acceptable and I am responsible for that.”

Liverpool’s performance fell apart as the coach introduced several attacking changes when pursuing the game. “It was the same on the road at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” he remarked. “I took Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and brought on the Portuguese forward and he found the net straight away to make it 1-1. Then it was brave, currently it’s likely stupid.”

The Anfield side previously were defeated in back-to-back at Anfield league games by Forest in 1963. The last time they lost back-to-back top-flight games by a three-goal scoreline was in the mid-60s.

The manager commented: “It was extremely poor. Competing at home, losing 3-0 regardless of which opponent you face is a very, very bad outcome. Unexpected if you look at the first half-hour of the game. I did not witness us creating so many chances in the opening 30 minutes maybe the whole season, and the initial occasion they entered in our penalty area they scored.

“It wasn’t against Manchester City, but in every other game we have been the dominant side and were capable to generate opportunities. Lately it is nearly consistently that we miss our chances and the attempts we allow find the net.”