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Arne Slot declared he had to “look at myself” after Liverpool endured a sixth defeat in 7 English top-flight matches at home against Nottingham Forest and insisted he would find a way from the title holders' slump.

Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, delivered the largest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their club records as the Merseyside club fell to an eighth defeat in 11 matches in all competitions. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was once more unnoticeable and the home side argued Murillo’s opener ought to have been disallowed for comparable grounds to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort against City before the international break. But Slot conceded the buck stopped with him and made no excuses.

“Nobody wishes to listen to me now speaking about officiating calls if you lose 3-0 in your own stadium to Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I ought to look at my own role initially and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a goal can change the flow of a match. Before I was just waiting for us to score a goal. Later we hardly created anything.

“Of course there is a path forward, especially with the talented players we have. No matter if you win or lose when you reflect you are always considering: ‘In which areas can we improve, in what aspects can we make changes?’ but that is different from doubting yourself.

“I want to stress I am responsible for the current losses. You are responsible when you are victorious but also liable when you are defeated. I can never come up with enough reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not good enough and I am to blame for that.”

Liverpool’s performance unravelled as Slot made several attacking substitutions when chasing the game. “It was the same away at Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I substituted the French defender out and put on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net immediately to equalize at 1-1. Then it was courageous, now it’s probably stupid.”

The Anfield side previously were defeated in two successive home league fixtures against Forest in 1963. The last time they suffered back-to-back top-flight games by a 3-0 scoreline was in 1965.

Slot commented: “It was very bad. Competing at home, conceding 3-0 regardless of which opponent you face is a terrible outcome. Surprising if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the game. I did not witness us creating so much in the initial 30 minutes perhaps the whole season, and the initial occasion they entered in our penalty area they found the back of the net.

“It wasn’t at City, but in all other fixture we have been the controlling side and were able to generate opportunities. Recently it is almost consistently that we miss our chances and the attempts we allow go in.”