🔗 Share this article

Arne Slot stated he had to “examine my own performance” following Liverpool suffered a sixth loss in seven English top-flight matches on their own turf against Forest and affirmed he would find a way from the title holders' poor run.

Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop prior to the match, delivered the biggest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their history as the Merseyside club fell to an 8th defeat in eleven fixtures in every tournament. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was once more anonymous and the home side contended Murillo’s opener ought to have been ruled out for comparable grounds to the captain's disallowed effort against City before the international break. But the manager admitted the responsibility rested with him and made no excuses.

“Nobody wants to hear me now talking about officiating calls if you lose 3-0 in your own stadium to Nottingham Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I ought to look at my own role first and my team, but it demonstrates you how a goal can change the momentum of a match. Before I was just hoping for us to score a goal. Later we hardly generated any chances.

“Of course there is a path forward, especially with the quality footballers we have. Regardless if you win or lose when you reflect you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we improve, where can we make changes?’ 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 defeated. I can not come up with enough excuses for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not acceptable and I am responsible for that.”

The team's performance fell apart as the coach introduced several offensive substitutions when pursuing the match. “It was the identical away at Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and put on the Portuguese forward and he scored straight away to make it 1-1. At that time it was brave, currently it’s likely unwise.”

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

Slot said: “It was very bad. Competing on home soil, losing 3-0 no matter which team you face is a terrible outcome. Unexpected if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the game. I did not witness us producing so many chances in the opening 30 minutes maybe the whole campaign, and the first time they arrived in our box they scored.

“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in all other game we have been the dominant side and were able to create chances. Recently it is almost constantly that we miss our opportunities and the attempts we allow go in.”