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Arne Slot declared he had to “examine my own performance” following the Reds suffered a sixth loss in seven Premier League matches on their own turf to Nottingham Forest and insisted he would discover a way out of the champions’ poor run.

Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, delivered the biggest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their history as Liverpool fell to an 8th defeat in eleven fixtures in all competitions. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was again anonymous and the home side argued Murillo’s first goal should have been ruled out for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal versus Manchester City before the national team pause. But Slot conceded the buck rested with him and offered no alibis.

“No one wants to listen to me now talking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I should examine my own role initially and my squad, but it does show you how a score can change the momentum of a match. Earlier I was just waiting for us to net a goal. Afterwards we hardly generated any chances.

“Of course there is a path forward, particularly with the talented footballers we have. No matter if you triumph or lose when you look back you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we do better, where can we make changes?’ but that is different from doubting yourself.

“I want to stress I am accountable for the present defeats. You are answerable when you are winning but also liable when you are losing. I can not provide sufficient excuses for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not acceptable and I am responsible for that.”

Liverpool’s display fell apart as the coach introduced several attacking changes when pursuing the match. “It was the same on the road at Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I substituted the French defender off and brought on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net immediately to make it 1-1. Then it was courageous, currently it’s likely stupid.”

Liverpool last lost back-to-back home Premier League games by Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they suffered back-to-back league games by a 3-0 margin was in 1965.

Slot said: “It was extremely poor. Competing on home soil, losing 3-0 no matter which opponent you encounter is a terrible result. Unexpected if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the game. I did not witness us producing so much in the opening 30 minutes maybe the whole season, and the initial occasion they entered 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 fail to convert our opportunities and the ones we allow go in.”