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Arne Slot declared he needed to “look at myself” after Liverpool endured a sixth defeat in seven English top-flight games on their own turf to Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would discover a solution from the title holders' slump.

Forest, fighting against the drop before kick off, delivered the biggest win at Liverpool's stadium in their history as the Merseyside club fell to an eighth defeat in 11 fixtures in all competitions. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was again anonymous and the home side contended Murillo’s first goal ought to have been ruled out for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort versus Manchester City prior to the national team pause. But Slot admitted the responsibility stopped with him and made no excuses.

“No one wants to hear me now talking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 in your own stadium to Nottingham Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I should look at myself first and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a score can change the flow of a match. Before I was just waiting for us to score a strike. Afterwards we barely created any chances.

“Naturally there is a way out, especially with the talented players we have. Regardless if you win or lose when you reflect you are always considering: ‘In which areas can we do better, in what aspects can we make changes?’ but that is different from questioning your abilities.

“I want to stress I am accountable for the present defeats. You are answerable when you are victorious but also liable when you are defeated. I can not provide enough excuses for us to have the results we have. That is not good enough and I am to blame for that.”

The team's performance fell apart as the coach introduced multiple offensive changes when chasing the match. “It was the same away at Forest the previous campaign,” he remarked. “I took the French defender out and brought 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 previously were defeated in two successive home league fixtures against Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they suffered consecutive league games by a three-goal margin was in the mid-60s.

Slot commented: “It was extremely poor. Playing on home soil, conceding 3-0 regardless of which opponent you encounter is a very, very bad outcome. Surprising if you consider the first half-hour of the match. I did not witness us producing so many chances in the opening 30 minutes perhaps the entire campaign, and the initial occasion they entered in our penalty area they scored.

“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in every other game we have been the controlling side and were capable to generate chances. Recently it is nearly constantly that we miss our opportunities and the ones we allow go in.”