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Arne Slot declared he had to “examine my own performance” after the Reds endured a 6th defeat in seven English top-flight matches at home to Forest and insisted he would find a way out of the title holders' slump.

Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop before kick off, delivered the largest win at Anfield in their club records as Liverpool slipped to an 8th defeat in 11 fixtures in every tournament. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was once more unnoticeable and Liverpool contended Murillo’s opener should have been ruled out for comparable grounds to the captain's disallowed effort against City prior to the national team pause. But the manager admitted the buck stopped with him and offered no alibis.

“Nobody wants to listen to me now speaking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I ought to look at my own role first and my team, but it does show you how a goal can change the flow of a match. Before I was just waiting for us to net a goal. Later we barely generated any chances.

“Naturally there is a path forward, particularly with the quality players we have. Regardless if you triumph or lose when you look back you are always considering: ‘Where can we do better, where can we make changes?’ but that is something else from questioning your abilities.

“I want to emphasise I am accountable for the current losses. You are responsible when you are victorious but also responsible when you are defeated. I can not provide enough excuses for us to have the results we have. That is not good enough and I am responsible for that.”

Liverpool’s display fell apart as Slot made several attacking substitutions when chasing the match. “It was the identical on the road at Forest the previous campaign,” he remarked. “I took Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and put on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net straight away to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was brave, now it’s probably stupid.”

The Anfield side last lost two successive home Premier League games by Forest in 1963. The most recent occasion they suffered back-to-back league games by a three-goal scoreline was in 1965.

The manager said: “It was very bad. Playing on home soil, conceding 3-0 regardless of which opponent you face is a very, very bad outcome. Surprising if you consider the first half-hour of the match. I haven’t seen us producing so many chances in the initial 30 minutes maybe 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 fixture we have been the dominant side and were able to generate opportunities. Lately it is almost constantly that we miss our opportunities and the ones we concede find the net.”