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Liverpool's head coach declared he needed to “examine my own performance” following Liverpool suffered a 6th loss in seven Premier League matches on their own turf to Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would find a way from the champions’ poor run.

Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, produced the largest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their history as the Merseyside club slipped to an 8th loss in 11 matches in all competitions. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was once more anonymous and Liverpool contended the defender's opener should have been ruled out for similar reasons to the captain's disallowed effort versus City prior to the international break. But the manager conceded the buck rested with him and offered no alibis.

“Nobody wishes to hear me now speaking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I ought to examine myself initially and my team, but it demonstrates you how a goal can alter the momentum of a match. Earlier I was just waiting for us to score a goal. Afterwards we barely generated any chances.

“Naturally there is a way out, particularly with the talented footballers we have. Regardless if you triumph 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 something else from doubting yourself.

“I want to emphasise I am accountable for the current defeats. You are responsible when you are victorious but also responsible when you are defeated. I can never provide sufficient reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not acceptable and I am to blame for that.”

The team's performance unravelled as the coach introduced several offensive substitutions when pursuing the match. “It was the same away at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and put on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net immediately to make it 1-1. At that time it was courageous, now it’s likely unwise.”

Liverpool last lost back-to-back home league games by Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The last time they lost consecutive top-flight games by a 3-0 margin was in the mid-60s.

Slot said: “It was very bad. Competing at home, conceding 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 haven’t seen us creating so many chances in the opening half-hour perhaps the whole season, and the first time they arrived in our penalty area they found the back of the net.

“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in every other game we have been the dominant team and were able to create opportunities. Recently it is nearly constantly that we miss our opportunities and the ones we concede go in.”