Arne Slot admits Liverpool losing to Nottingham Forest was ‘not the shock result I thought it was at time’

Table-toppers travel to City Ground on Tuesday to face team who inflicted their only Premier League defeat this season

Liverpool manager Arne Slot has seen his team lose just two matches across all competitions since taking over at Anfield. AFP

Liverpool manager Arne Slot has admitted that his team's defeat at home to Nottingham Forest earlier this season is not the surprise result he thought it was at the time.

The table-toppers have lost just once in 19 Premier League games this season - when Nuno Espirito Santo's Forest came to Anfield in September and secured a 1-0 victory.

Callum Hudson-Odoi's 72nd minute winner ended Liverpool's perfect start to campaign and earned Forest their first win at Liverpool in any competition since 1969.

That victory was a sign of things to come from surprise packages Forest who currently sit third in the table – six points behind Liverpool – having won six games on the spin.

It is the first time Forest have achieved that feat in a single top-flight season for 58 years and their last victory – 3-0 at Wolves – was their ninth clean sheet in the league this season – more than any other team in the division.

And while Slot acknowledges his first defeat since replacing Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager was a frustrating one – Forest finished in 17th place last season – he now looks at it in a different light.

“For us to lose on that day was, for me, hard to take,” said the Dutchman ahead of Tuesday's trip to the City Ground.

“Now, looking back at it and seeing where they are in the league, it has not been such a shock result as I thought it was back then.

“I have always said you can judge the table best halfway through the season. They are up there with the rest so they are definitely a team in competition with us and the others.

“If you look at the way they play and their results then it is deserved. Nuno is doing an incredible job, but if you look at the amount of money they spent it is not a complete surprise that they do well this season.

“They are a team that hardly concede goals. They don't take many risks in their build-up play so when they lose the ball they have many players behind the ball and they defend with 11 players.”

Liverpool's only other defeat in any competition came last week when they lost 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup semi-final first leg.

They are currently also leading the way in the revamped Champions League – having won six out of six games so far – and defeated fourth-tier Accrington Stanley 4-0 on Saturday to seal their place in the FA Cup fourth round, where they will take on Plymouth Argyle.

It has been a remarkable start to life on Merseyside for Slot who has seen his team win 24 of 30 matches in all competitions since taking charge.

But the former Feyenoord coach is continuing to warn against complacency, highlighting the fact old foes Manchester City have returned to winning ways after their dreadful run of form.

Pep Guardiola's reigning champions have just recorded three victories on the trot and Slot is rightly wary about writing off a team that has secured four consecutive league titles.

“I said many times if you go into a job you don't think about where we will be halfway through a season when it comes to the position in the league table,” he added.

“What you do try to focus on a lot is 'Can we make the players really fit, can we make them work really hard and can we implement the playing style in the best possible way from the start?'.

“You never know what the other teams are going to do – I don't think any one of us expected City to be where they are at the moment, although you can see already now they are coming back and winning their games in a way we are like 'Ah, this is City again'.

“You don't think about these things before the start of the season, you mostly think about 'OK, can I let these players play in a way I would like them to play' – and hopefully the fans would like them to play as well.”

Liverpool will be without suspended Uruguayan striker Darwin Nunez, while defender Joe Gomez remains out of action with an hamstring injury.