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Arne Slot declared he needed to “examine my own performance” after the Reds endured a sixth defeat in seven Premier League matches on their own turf against Forest and insisted he would find a way from the title holders' slump.

Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop prior to the match, delivered the biggest win at Anfield in their history as the Merseyside club fell to an eighth defeat in eleven fixtures in all competitions. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was once more unnoticeable and the home side contended the defender's first goal should have been disallowed for comparable grounds to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort versus Manchester City prior to the national team pause. But Slot admitted the responsibility rested with him and made no excuses.

“No one wishes to listen to me now talking about officiating calls if you lose 3-0 in your own stadium to Nottingham Forest,” stated the Reds' boss. “I should examine myself first and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a score can alter the flow of a game. Earlier I was just waiting for us to net a strike. Later we barely generated any chances.

“Of course there is a way out, particularly with the talented players we have. No matter if you triumph or are beaten when you reflect you are always thinking: ‘Where can we improve, where can we make changes?’ but that is different from questioning yourself.

“I want to emphasise I am accountable for the present defeats. You are responsible when you are winning but also responsible when you are defeated. I can never come up with sufficient excuses for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not good enough and I am to blame for that.”

Liverpool’s performance fell apart as the coach introduced multiple offensive substitutions when chasing the game. “It was the identical away at Nottingham Forest last season,” he said. “I took Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and brought on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net straight away to make it 1-1. At that time it was courageous, currently it’s likely unwise.”

The Anfield side previously were defeated in back-to-back home league games by Forest in the sixties. The last time they lost consecutive top-flight matches by a three-goal margin was in the mid-60s.

The manager said: “It was extremely poor. Competing on home soil, losing 3-0 regardless of which team you face is a very, very bad result. Surprising if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the game. I did not witness us producing so much in the opening half-hour perhaps the whole season, and the initial occasion they arrived in our box they found the back of the net.

“It did not happen at City, but in every other game we have been the dominant team and were able to create opportunities. Recently it is almost consistently that we miss our opportunities and the ones we allow find the net.”