🔗 Share this article

Arne Slot stated he had to “examine my own performance” after Liverpool endured a sixth defeat in 7 Premier League matches on their own turf against Forest and insisted he would find a solution from the champions’ slump.

Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop prior to the match, delivered the largest win at Anfield in their club records as the Merseyside club fell to an 8th defeat in 11 fixtures in all competitions. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was again unnoticeable and the home side argued the defender's opener should have been disallowed for similar reasons to the captain's chalked-off goal against City prior to the international break. But the manager conceded the buck rested with him and offered no alibis.

“No one wishes to listen to me now talking about officiating calls if you lose 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” stated the Reds' boss. “I should examine myself first and my squad, but it does show you how a score can change the momentum of a match. Earlier I was just waiting for us to net a strike. Later we hardly created anything.

“Naturally there is a way out, especially with the talented players we have. Regardless if you win or are beaten when you look back you are always thinking: ‘Where can we do better, where can we adjust?’ but that is something else from doubting yourself.

“I wish to emphasise I am accountable for the current defeats. You are answerable when you are victorious but also responsible when you are losing. I can never provide sufficient reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is far from good enough and I am responsible for that.”

The team's display fell apart as Slot made multiple offensive substitutions when pursuing the game. “It was the same away at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” 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, currently it’s likely unwise.”

Liverpool previously were defeated in back-to-back at Anfield league games against Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they lost consecutive league matches by a 3-0 margin was in 1965.

The manager said: “It was extremely poor. Playing on home soil, conceding 3-0 regardless of which opponent you encounter is a terrible outcome. Unexpected if you consider the first half-hour of the match. I did not witness us creating so much in the initial 30 minutes perhaps the entire campaign, and the initial occasion they arrived in our box they scored.

“It did not happen at City, but in every other game we have been the dominant team and were capable to generate opportunities. Lately it is nearly constantly that we fail to convert our opportunities and the attempts we allow go in.”