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Liverpool's head coach stated he needed to “examine my own performance” after Liverpool suffered a sixth loss in seven Premier League matches at home against Forest and insisted he would discover a way from the title holders' poor run.

Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, produced the largest win at Liverpool's stadium in their history as Liverpool slipped to an eighth defeat in eleven fixtures in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was once more anonymous and the home side argued Murillo’s opener should have been disallowed for similar reasons to the captain's disallowed effort against Manchester City prior to the international break. But the manager admitted the responsibility rested with him and offered no alibis.

“Nobody wishes 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 should examine myself initially and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a goal can alter the momentum of a game. Before I was just hoping for us to net a goal. Later we barely created anything.

“Naturally 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 adjust?’ but that is different from doubting yourself.

“I want to emphasise I am responsible for the present losses. You are answerable when you are victorious but also liable when you are losing. I can not come up with enough excuses for us to have the outcomes we have. That is far from acceptable and I am responsible for that.”

Liverpool’s display fell apart as the coach made several offensive substitutions when pursuing the game. “It was the same on the road at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and brought on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net immediately to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was courageous, currently it’s likely unwise.”

Liverpool last lost back-to-back at Anfield Premier League fixtures by Forest in the sixties. The last time they lost back-to-back top-flight games by a 3-0 scoreline was in the mid-60s.

Slot commented: “It was extremely poor. Playing on home soil, losing 3-0 no matter which opponent you face is a very, very bad outcome. Unexpected if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the game. I haven’t seen us producing so much in the opening half-hour perhaps the entire campaign, and the first time they arrived in our penalty area they scored.

“It did not happen at City, but in every other fixture we have been the controlling side and were capable to create chances. Recently it is almost consistently that we miss our chances and the ones we allow find the net.”