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Arne Slot stated he needed to “look at myself” following Liverpool endured a sixth defeat in 7 Premier League games on their own turf against Forest and insisted he would find a solution out of the title holders' poor run.

Forest, fighting against the drop prior to the match, produced the biggest win at Anfield in their history as Liverpool slipped to an eighth defeat in 11 matches in every tournament. The most expensive domestic acquisition, Alexander Isak, was once more anonymous and the home side contended the defender's opener should have been disallowed for similar reasons to the captain's chalked-off goal against City before the international break. But Slot admitted the buck rested with him and offered no alibis.

“Nobody wishes to hear me now speaking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 in your own stadium to Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I should look at myself initially and my team, but it does show you how a score can alter the flow of a game. Earlier I was just waiting for us to score a goal. Later we barely generated any chances.

“Naturally there is a path forward, especially with the quality players we have. Regardless if you win or are beaten when you look back you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we improve, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is different from questioning your abilities.

“I want to stress I am responsible for the current defeats. You are answerable when you are winning but also liable when you are defeated. I can not come up with sufficient excuses for us to have the outcomes we have. That is far from acceptable and I am to blame for that.”

Liverpool’s performance unravelled as Slot introduced several offensive changes when pursuing the match. “It was the identical away at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” he remarked. “I took the French defender off and put on [Diogo] Jota and he scored immediately to equalize at 1-1. Then it was courageous, now it’s likely stupid.”

Liverpool last lost two successive at Anfield league games against Forest in the sixties. The last time they lost consecutive league games by a 3-0 margin was in the mid-60s.

Slot commented: “It was extremely poor. Playing on home soil, losing 3-0 regardless of which team you face is a terrible result. Surprising if you consider the first half-hour of the match. I haven’t seen us producing so many chances in the opening half-hour maybe the entire season, and the first time they entered in our penalty area they scored.

“It wasn’t at City, but in every other game we have been the controlling side and were able to generate opportunities. Recently it is nearly constantly that we miss our chances and the attempts we allow go in.”