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Arne Slot declared he needed to “examine my own performance” following the Reds endured a 6th loss in 7 English top-flight games on their own turf against Nottingham Forest and insisted he would discover a way from the title holders' poor run.

Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, produced the biggest victory at Anfield in their club records as the Merseyside club slipped to an 8th loss in 11 fixtures in all competitions. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was again unnoticeable and the home side argued the defender's opener ought to have been disallowed for similar reasons to the captain's disallowed effort against Manchester City prior to the international break. But the manager admitted the buck rested with him and offered no alibis.

“No one wants to hear me now talking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I ought to look at myself first and my team, but it demonstrates you how a score can alter the momentum of a match. Before I was just waiting for us to score a goal. Afterwards we barely created anything.

“Of course there is a way out, particularly with the talented players we have. Regardless if you win or lose when you look back you are always thinking: ‘Where can we improve, where can we make changes?’ but that is different from doubting your abilities.

“I wish to stress I am accountable for the present defeats. You are answerable when you are winning but also responsible when you are losing. I can not provide sufficient reasons for us to have the results we have. That is far from good enough and I am to blame for that.”

The team's display unravelled as the coach introduced multiple attacking changes when pursuing the match. “It was the identical on the road at Forest last season,” he said. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and brought on [Diogo] Jota and he scored straight away to make it 1-1. At that time it was brave, now it’s probably stupid.”

The Anfield side previously were defeated in back-to-back at Anfield Premier League fixtures by Forest in 1963. The most recent occasion they lost back-to-back league games by a 3-0 margin was in the mid-60s.

Slot said: “It was extremely poor. Competing at home, losing 3-0 regardless of which opponent you face is a very, very bad result. Surprising if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the match. I did not witness us creating so much in the opening 30 minutes perhaps the whole campaign, and the first time they entered in our box they scored.

“It did not happen at City, but in all other fixture we have been the controlling team and were able to create chances. Recently it is almost constantly that we fail to convert our opportunities and the attempts we allow find the net.”