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

Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop prior to the match, delivered the biggest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their club records as the Merseyside club fell to an eighth loss in 11 fixtures in every tournament. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was again unnoticeable and the home side contended Murillo’s first goal should have been ruled out for similar reasons to the captain's chalked-off goal versus City prior to the national team pause. But Slot conceded the buck rested with him and offered no alibis.

“No one wants to listen to me now speaking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I should look at my own role initially and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a score can change the momentum of a match. Earlier I was just hoping for us to score a strike. Later we hardly created anything.

“Naturally there is a path forward, especially with the talented players we have. Regardless if you win or lose when you look back you are always considering: ‘Where can we improve, where can we make changes?’ but that is different from doubting your abilities.

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

The team's performance fell apart as the coach made several attacking changes when pursuing the match. “It was the same on the road at Nottingham Forest last season,” he said. “I took Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and put on the Portuguese forward and he scored immediately to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was brave, now it’s likely unwise.”

The Anfield side previously were defeated in two successive home Premier League games against Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The last time they lost consecutive league matches by a three-goal margin was in the mid-60s.

Slot said: “It was extremely poor. Playing at home, losing 3-0 no matter which team you face is a very, very bad result. Unexpected if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the game. I did not witness us creating so many chances in the opening 30 minutes perhaps the whole campaign, and the initial occasion they entered in our box they found the back of the net.

“It wasn’t at City, but in all other fixture we have been the dominant team and were able to create opportunities. Recently it is almost constantly that we miss our chances and the attempts we concede go in.”