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Arne Slot stated he had to “examine my own performance” following Liverpool endured a 6th loss in seven English top-flight matches at home to Nottingham Forest and insisted he would discover a solution from the title holders' poor run.

Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, delivered the biggest win at Anfield in their club records as Liverpool fell to an 8th defeat in eleven matches in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was once more unnoticeable and the home side argued Murillo’s opener should have been ruled out for comparable grounds to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal against City before the national team pause. But Slot conceded the buck stopped with him and made no excuses.

“No one wants to listen to me now talking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” stated the Liverpool head coach. “I ought to look at myself initially and my team, but it demonstrates you how a score can alter the momentum of a game. Earlier I was just hoping for us to score a goal. Later we hardly created anything.

“Of course there is a way out, especially with the talented footballers we have. Regardless 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 your abilities.

“I want to stress I am accountable for the present defeats. You are responsible when you are winning but also responsible when you are losing. I can never provide sufficient excuses for us to have the results we have. That is not acceptable and I am to blame for that.”

Liverpool’s performance fell apart as Slot introduced several offensive changes when chasing the game. “It was the same away at Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I took the French defender out and put on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net immediately to equalize at 1-1. Then it was courageous, currently it’s likely unwise.”

The Anfield side previously were defeated in back-to-back home Premier League fixtures by Forest in the sixties. The last time they lost back-to-back league matches by a 3-0 scoreline was in 1965.

The manager commented: “It was extremely poor. Competing on home soil, conceding 3-0 regardless of which team you face is a very, very bad outcome. Unexpected if you look at the first half-hour of the match. I did not witness us producing so much in the initial 30 minutes maybe the whole campaign, and the first time they arrived in our penalty area they scored.

“It did not happen at City, but in every other game we have been the dominant side and were able to create chances. Lately it is nearly consistently that we miss our opportunities and the attempts we concede find the net.”