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Arne Slot stated he needed to “examine my own performance” after Liverpool endured a sixth loss in seven English top-flight matches on their own turf against Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would find a solution from the title holders' poor run.

Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, delivered the largest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their club records as Liverpool slipped to an 8th defeat in 11 matches in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was again anonymous and the home side contended the defender's opener should have been ruled out for comparable grounds to the captain's chalked-off goal versus City prior to the national team pause. But the manager conceded the responsibility rested with him and made no excuses.

“No one wishes to hear me now speaking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 in your own stadium to Forest,” stated the Liverpool head coach. “I ought to examine myself initially and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a score can alter the flow of a game. Before I was just hoping for us to score a goal. Afterwards we hardly generated anything.

“Naturally there is a way out, particularly with the talented footballers we have. No matter if you win or are beaten when you reflect you are always considering: ‘In which areas can we do better, where can we adjust?’ but that is something else from doubting yourself.

“I wish to stress I am accountable for the current losses. You are answerable when you are winning but also responsible when you are losing. I can not come up with sufficient reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not acceptable and I am responsible for that.”

Liverpool’s performance unravelled as the coach introduced multiple offensive changes when pursuing the match. “It was the same on the road at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and brought on the Portuguese forward and he scored straight away to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was courageous, now it’s likely unwise.”

Liverpool last lost back-to-back home Premier League fixtures by Nottingham Forest in 1963. The last time they lost back-to-back top-flight matches by a three-goal scoreline was in 1965.

Slot said: “It was extremely poor. Playing at home, conceding 3-0 regardless of which team you face is a very, very bad outcome. Unexpected if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the match. I did not witness us creating so much in the initial half-hour maybe the entire season, and the initial occasion they arrived in our penalty area they found the back of the net.

“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in every other game we have been the controlling team and were able to generate chances. Recently it is nearly consistently that we fail to convert our opportunities and the ones we concede go in.”