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Arne Slot declared he had to “examine my own performance” following Liverpool endured a 6th loss in 7 English top-flight matches at home to Forest and affirmed he would find a way out of the title holders' poor run.

Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, produced the largest win at Anfield in their club records as the Merseyside club fell to an eighth loss in eleven matches in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, Alexander Isak, was again anonymous and the home side contended the defender's opener ought to have been disallowed for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal against Manchester City prior to the international break. But the manager admitted the buck rested with him and made no excuses.

“No one wants to hear me now speaking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” stated the Liverpool head coach. “I should look at my own role initially 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 net a goal. Afterwards we hardly generated any chances.

“Of course there is a path forward, especially with the talented players we have. No matter if you win or lose when you reflect you are always thinking: ‘Where can we improve, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is something else from questioning your abilities.

“I want to stress I am accountable for the current defeats. You are answerable when you are victorious but also responsible when you are losing. I can never provide sufficient reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is far from acceptable and I am responsible for that.”

Liverpool’s display fell apart as Slot made multiple attacking substitutions when chasing the game. “It was the same away at Forest the previous campaign,” he remarked. “I took the French defender out and put on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net immediately to make it 1-1. At that time it was brave, currently it’s likely unwise.”

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

The manager commented: “It was extremely poor. Playing at home, conceding 3-0 no matter which opponent you encounter is a terrible outcome. Unexpected if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the game. I haven’t seen us producing so many chances in the initial half-hour perhaps the entire season, and the first time they arrived in our box they found the back of the net.

“It did not happen at City, but in all other game we have been the controlling team and were able to generate chances. Recently it is almost constantly that we fail to convert our opportunities and the ones we allow go in.”