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Arne Slot stated he needed to “examine my own performance” after the Reds endured a 6th defeat in seven Premier League matches on their own turf to Nottingham Forest and insisted he would discover a solution from the title holders' poor run.

Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, delivered the largest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their club records as the Merseyside club slipped to an 8th defeat in eleven matches in every tournament. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was again anonymous and Liverpool argued the defender's first goal should have been ruled out for comparable grounds to the captain's chalked-off goal against Manchester City before the international break. But Slot conceded the responsibility rested with him and offered no alibis.

“No one wants to hear me now speaking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 in your own stadium to Forest,” stated the Liverpool head coach. “I ought to look at my own role initially and my squad, but it does show you how a goal can alter the momentum of a match. Earlier I was just hoping for us to score a strike. Afterwards we barely created anything.

“Naturally there is a path forward, particularly with the talented footballers we have. No matter if you win or lose when you reflect you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we do better, where can we adjust?’ but that is different from questioning yourself.

“I want to stress I am responsible for the present losses. 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 results we have. That is not good enough and I am responsible for that.”

Liverpool’s display unravelled as the coach made several offensive substitutions when pursuing the game. “It was the identical away at Nottingham Forest last season,” he said. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and put on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net straight away to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was brave, currently it’s likely unwise.”

The Anfield side last lost two successive at Anfield league fixtures against Nottingham Forest in 1963. The last time they lost back-to-back league games by a three-goal margin was in the mid-60s.

The manager commented: “It was very bad. Playing on home soil, conceding 3-0 no matter which team you face is a terrible result. Unexpected if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the match. I did not witness us producing so much in the initial 30 minutes perhaps the entire season, and the first time they arrived in our box they scored.

“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in every other game we have been the dominant team and were capable to generate chances. Lately it is almost consistently that we miss our opportunities and the ones we concede find the net.”