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Arne Slot declared he had to “examine my own performance” after the Reds endured a sixth loss in seven Premier League matches at home against Nottingham Forest and insisted he would find a way from the champions’ poor run.

Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop prior to the match, delivered the biggest victory at Anfield in their history as the Merseyside club slipped to an eighth loss in 11 fixtures in every tournament. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was once more anonymous and Liverpool argued Murillo’s opener ought to have been disallowed for comparable grounds to the captain's chalked-off goal against City before the international break. But the manager conceded the responsibility rested with him and made no excuses.

“Nobody wants to hear me now speaking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” stated the Liverpool head coach. “I should look at my own role initially and my team, but it does show you how a score can change the momentum of a match. Earlier I was just hoping for us to net a strike. Afterwards we barely created any chances.

“Of course there is a path forward, especially with the talented players we have. Regardless if you triumph or lose when you look back you are always considering: ‘Where can we improve, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is different from doubting yourself.

“I wish to emphasise I am accountable for the current losses. You are responsible when you are victorious but also liable when you are defeated. I can not come up with enough reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is far from good enough and I am responsible for that.”

The team's performance fell apart as Slot made multiple attacking substitutions when pursuing the game. “It was the identical away at Nottingham Forest last season,” he remarked. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and put on the Portuguese forward and he scored immediately to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was courageous, now it’s probably stupid.”

Liverpool last lost two successive at Anfield Premier League games against Forest in 1963. The last time they lost back-to-back league games by a 3-0 scoreline was in 1965.

The manager said: “It was very bad. Playing on home soil, 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 haven’t seen us producing so many chances in the opening half-hour perhaps the entire campaign, and the first time they entered in our box they scored.

“It wasn’t at City, but in every other fixture we have been the dominant team and were capable to create opportunities. Recently it is nearly constantly that we fail to convert our opportunities and the attempts we allow find the net.”