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Arne Slot stated he needed to “look at myself” following the Reds endured a sixth loss in seven Premier League matches on their own turf against Forest and insisted he would find a way from the title holders' slump.

Forest, fighting against the drop before kick off, delivered the largest win at Liverpool's stadium in their history as the Merseyside club slipped to an eighth loss in 11 matches in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was again unnoticeable and Liverpool contended the defender's opener should have been disallowed for similar reasons to the captain's disallowed effort against City before the national team pause. But the manager admitted the buck rested with him and offered no alibis.

“Nobody wishes to hear me now speaking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 at home to Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I should examine myself initially and my squad, but it does show you how a score can change the flow of a match. Before I was just waiting for us to score a goal. Later we barely generated any chances.

“Naturally there is a path forward, particularly with the talented footballers we have. No matter if you win or are beaten when you reflect you are always considering: ‘In which areas can we do better, where can we make changes?’ but that is different from doubting your abilities.

“I wish to emphasise I am responsible for the current losses. You are responsible when you are winning but also liable when you are losing. I can never provide enough reasons for us to have the results we have. That is not good enough and I am to blame for that.”

Liverpool’s performance unravelled as Slot made multiple offensive substitutions when chasing the match. “It was the identical away at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I took Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and put on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net straight away to equalize at 1-1. Then it was courageous, now it’s likely unwise.”

The Anfield side last lost back-to-back at Anfield league fixtures against Forest in 1963. The most recent occasion they lost back-to-back league games by a 3-0 scoreline was in 1965.

The manager commented: “It was extremely poor. Competing at home, losing 3-0 no matter which team you face is a terrible result. Surprising if you consider the first half-hour of the match. I did not witness us creating so much in the opening 30 minutes maybe the whole campaign, and the first time they arrived in our penalty area they scored.

“It did not happen at City, but in all other fixture we have been the controlling side and were able to create opportunities. Lately it is almost constantly that we miss our chances and the ones we allow go in.”