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Arne Slot stated he needed to “look at myself” following Liverpool suffered a sixth defeat in seven English top-flight matches at home to Forest and insisted he would find a solution from the champions’ slump.

Forest, fighting against the drop prior to the match, delivered the largest victory at Anfield in their club records as Liverpool fell to an 8th defeat in eleven fixtures in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, Alexander Isak, was again unnoticeable and Liverpool argued the defender's first goal should have been ruled out for comparable grounds to the captain's disallowed effort versus Manchester City prior to the national team pause. But the manager conceded the responsibility stopped with him and made no excuses.

“Nobody wants to hear me now talking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I should examine myself first and my team, but it does show you how a score can change the momentum of a game. Before I was just hoping for us to net a strike. Later we barely generated any chances.

“Of course there is a way out, especially with the quality players we have. No matter if you triumph or lose when you look back you are always considering: ‘In which areas can we do better, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is different from doubting yourself.

“I wish to emphasise I am responsible for the present defeats. You are answerable when you are victorious but also liable when you are losing. I can not provide sufficient excuses for us to have the results we have. That is far from acceptable and I am to blame for that.”

Liverpool’s performance unravelled as the coach introduced multiple attacking changes when chasing the game. “It was the same away at Nottingham Forest last season,” he said. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and put on the Portuguese forward and he found the net straight away to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was brave, currently it’s likely unwise.”

Liverpool previously were defeated in two successive at Anfield league fixtures against Nottingham Forest in 1963. The most recent occasion they lost back-to-back top-flight games by a 3-0 margin was in 1965.

Slot said: “It was very bad. Playing at home, conceding 3-0 no matter which opponent you encounter is a very, very bad result. Surprising if you consider the first half-hour of the match. I did not witness us producing so much in the initial 30 minutes maybe the entire season, and the initial occasion they arrived in our penalty area they scored.

“It did not happen at City, but in all other game we have been the dominant team and were capable to create opportunities. Recently it is almost consistently that we fail to convert our chances and the ones we concede find the net.”