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Liverpool's head coach stated he needed to “examine my own performance” after the Reds endured a sixth loss in seven English top-flight games on their own turf to Forest and affirmed he would discover a way out of the title holders' slump.

Forest, fighting against the drop before kick off, delivered the biggest win at Anfield in their history as the Merseyside club fell to an eighth defeat in 11 matches in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was once more unnoticeable and the home side argued the defender's first goal should have been disallowed for comparable grounds to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal against City before the international break. But the manager conceded the buck stopped with him and offered no alibis.

“Nobody wishes to hear me now talking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I ought to look at my own role first and my squad, but it does show you how a goal can change the flow of a match. Before I was just waiting for us to net a strike. Later we barely created anything.

“Naturally there is a path forward, particularly with the talented players we have. Regardless if you win or are beaten when you reflect you are always thinking: ‘Where can we do better, where can we make changes?’ but that is different from questioning your abilities.

“I wish to stress I am accountable for the current losses. You are answerable when you are victorious but also responsible when you are losing. I can not provide sufficient excuses for us to have the outcomes we have. That is far from acceptable and I am responsible for that.”

Liverpool’s display unravelled as the coach introduced several offensive changes when chasing the game. “It was the same away at Nottingham Forest last season,” he said. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and brought on the Portuguese forward and he scored straight away to make it 1-1. At that time it was courageous, now it’s likely stupid.”

The Anfield side previously were defeated in two successive home league games against Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they suffered consecutive top-flight matches by a 3-0 scoreline was in 1965.

Slot said: “It was very bad. Playing on home soil, losing 3-0 regardless of which opponent you encounter is a terrible outcome. Unexpected if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the match. I haven’t seen us creating so much in the initial half-hour maybe the entire campaign, and the initial occasion they arrived in our box they found the back of the net.

“It wasn’t against Manchester City, but in all other fixture we have been the dominant side and were capable to generate chances. Recently it is nearly constantly that we miss our chances and the ones we concede find the net.”