Liverpool slide into the bottom half of the table after Nottingham Forest win at Anfield

Murillo, Nicolo Savona and Morgan Gibbs-White scored the goals to add to Liverpool’s misery, with the champions’ title defence in tatters after they slipped to 11th in the table.

The stands were emptying at Anfield long before the end of the match, with Van Dijk offering up an agonised verdict as he summed up his side’s latest defeat.

“We concede too many easy goals,” he began. “They scored obviously from a set piece again. You can ask if he was in front of Alisson, but it counted, so we’re 1-0 down. We were not good in terms of battles, challenges, the fight, too rushed. It’s a very difficult situation at the moment.

“There was nervousness after we conceded, but not before. We tried to rush things and that’s human when you’re in a difficult moment. We don’t get out of it by just speaking about it. It will take a lot of hard work.

“It’s a problem. Everyone in the team has to take responsibility as well. Football is a team and everyone has to take responsibility. We have to digest this and take it on the chin. We need to work harder. We have to keep going.

“Everyone is disappointed, like they should be, because losing at home to Nottingham Forest is, in my eyes, very bad. That’s the least I can say about it. Those goals we conceded are far too easy and we all have to look in the mirror. I’ve been at this club so long now and we’ve been through adversity. We will bounce back but it doesn’t happen overnight. I’m not a quitter and we will keep going.”

He was then asked about the fans leaving before the end of the game and added: “I can’t decide what the supporters are doing if they leave early. I know the fans have been through thick and thin with us. They will be there with us when we come out of this because we will come out of this.”

Liverpool manager Arne Slot was also in downbeat mood, as he admitted there were no excuses for such a heavy home defeat.

“No matter what kind of run of form you’re in, if you lose 3-0 at home, it’s not really our standards. We should all be very disappointed,” said Slot.

“The first half-hour, I think the players did what we were hoping for — played with a lot of energy, created enough chances to go a goal up — then we conceded a set piece, and that changed the momentum and the game completely.

“Afterwards, we struggled a lot to find openings to find chances that we were able to find in the first half-hour.

“I tried to make a couple of changes, a couple of adjustments, but that didn’t work out the way I wanted. A big disappointment. When things go well, things don’t go well, it is always my responsibility.

“The players kept on trying — I cannot blame them on that — but it was very difficult for us to find an opening, and when we found an opening they blocked every single shot we had.”

Liverpool will now play PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Wednesday, with their Premier League title defence almost certainly at an end after this latest defeat.