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Arne Slot stated he needed to “look at myself” following the Reds suffered a sixth loss in 7 English top-flight games on their own turf against Forest and insisted he would find a way out of the title holders' slump.

Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, produced the biggest win at Liverpool's stadium in their history as Liverpool fell to an eighth defeat in 11 matches in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was once more anonymous and Liverpool contended the defender's opener should have been ruled out for comparable grounds to the captain's disallowed effort against City before the international break. But the manager admitted the responsibility stopped with him and made no excuses.

“Nobody wants to hear me now talking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 in your own stadium to Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I ought to look at myself initially and my squad, but it does show you how a goal can alter the momentum of a game. Earlier I was just hoping for us to net a goal. Later we barely created any chances.

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

“I wish to stress 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 enough reasons for us to have the results we have. That is far from acceptable and I am to blame for that.”

Liverpool’s performance unravelled as the coach introduced multiple offensive substitutions when pursuing the game. “It was the identical on the road at Forest last season,” he remarked. “I took Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and brought on [Diogo] Jota and he scored straight away to equalize at 1-1. Then it was brave, now it’s probably stupid.”

Liverpool last lost two successive home league games against Forest in the sixties. The last time they lost consecutive top-flight games by a 3-0 scoreline was in 1965.

The manager commented: “It was very bad. Competing on home soil, conceding 3-0 regardless of which team you face is a very, very bad result. Surprising if you consider the first half-hour of the game. I did not witness us producing so many chances in the opening 30 minutes maybe the whole campaign, and the initial occasion they entered in our penalty area they found the back of the net.

“It wasn’t against Manchester City, but in all other fixture we have been the dominant side and were able to create opportunities. Recently it is nearly consistently that we fail to convert our opportunities and the attempts we concede go in.”