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Arne Slot declared he needed to “examine my own performance” after the Reds suffered a 6th loss in seven English top-flight games on their own turf against Nottingham Forest and insisted he would discover a solution from the champions’ poor run.

Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, delivered the biggest win at Anfield in their history as Liverpool slipped to an eighth loss in eleven fixtures in every tournament. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was once more anonymous and the home side contended the defender's opener ought to have been ruled out for similar reasons to the captain's disallowed effort versus Manchester City prior to the national team pause. But the manager conceded the buck rested with him and made no excuses.

“Nobody wants to listen to me now speaking about officiating calls if you lose 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I should look at myself initially and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a score can change the flow of a match. Earlier I was just hoping for us to score a goal. Later we hardly generated anything.

“Of course there is a path forward, especially with the quality footballers we have. No matter if you triumph or lose when you reflect you are always considering: ‘In which areas can we do better, where can we adjust?’ but that is different from questioning your abilities.

“I wish to emphasise I am accountable for the current defeats. You are answerable when you are winning but also responsible when you are defeated. I can not come up with enough excuses for us to have the results we have. That is not acceptable and I am to blame for that.”

The team's display fell apart as Slot made multiple offensive changes when pursuing the game. “It was the identical on the road at Nottingham Forest last season,” he said. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and brought on [Diogo] Jota and he scored straight away to make it 1-1. At that time it was courageous, now it’s probably stupid.”

Liverpool last lost back-to-back at Anfield league fixtures by Forest in the sixties. The last time they lost consecutive league games by a 3-0 scoreline was in the mid-60s.

The manager said: “It was extremely poor. Competing on home soil, conceding 3-0 regardless of which opponent you encounter is a terrible outcome. Surprising if you look at the first half-hour of the game. I haven’t seen us creating so many chances in the initial 30 minutes perhaps the whole season, and the initial occasion they entered in our box they scored.

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