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Arne Slot declared he needed to “examine my own performance” after Liverpool suffered a sixth defeat in seven Premier League matches at home to Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would find a solution out of the title holders' poor run.

Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, produced the biggest victory at Anfield in their history as Liverpool fell to an eighth defeat in eleven 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 Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort versus Manchester City prior to the international break. But Slot conceded the buck stopped with him and made no excuses.

“No one wishes to listen to me now talking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 in your own stadium to Nottingham Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I should look at myself initially and my team, but it demonstrates you how a goal can alter the flow of a game. Before I was just waiting for us to net a goal. Later we barely created anything.

“Of course there is a path forward, especially with the talented players we have. Regardless if you triumph or are beaten when you look back you are always considering: ‘Where can we do better, in what aspects can we make changes?’ but that is something else from questioning your abilities.

“I want to emphasise I am responsible for the present losses. You are responsible when you are winning but also responsible when you are defeated. I can never provide enough reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is far from good enough and I am responsible for that.”

Liverpool’s display unravelled as the coach made several offensive substitutions when chasing the game. “It was the same on the road at Nottingham Forest last season,” he remarked. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and put on [Diogo] Jota and he scored immediately to make it 1-1. Then it was courageous, now it’s probably stupid.”

The Anfield side previously were defeated in back-to-back home league fixtures by Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they suffered consecutive league games by a 3-0 scoreline was in 1965.

The manager said: “It was very bad. Playing at home, losing 3-0 no matter which team you encounter is a very, very bad outcome. Unexpected if you consider the first half-hour of the game. I did not witness us producing so many chances in the initial 30 minutes maybe the whole season, and the first time they arrived in our box they found the back of the net.

“It did not happen at City, but in every other game we have been the dominant team and were capable to create opportunities. Lately it is almost constantly that we miss our opportunities and the ones we concede go in.”