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It has been a while, but Mohamed Salah was back assuming the starring role last week with a brace in Casablanca that sealed the Egyptian team's position at the 2026 World Cup. The main man stepping on center stage once more. The Merseyside club need him to keep that position.

Causes for Unsteady Performances

We see several factors why inconsistent, unconvincing showings have been the frequent pattern characterizing Liverpool's opening to their championship defense, if they recorded a winning streak or, before Manchester United's arrival to Anfield on Sunday, three losses in a row. The disruption from multiple offseason moves, the coach's quest for his top team, the late forward's passing; Salah has experienced the effect of them all during his unusually quiet start to the term.

Sunday's Big Match

The weekend's key fixture could offer the spark for the source of a record 16 scores in 17 appearances for the club against Manchester United, who are paying their 100th appearance to Anfield and have not won at their fierce rivals for over nine years. Salah will pose the manager with a further unforeseen dilemma, however, if he stay caught in the disruption much longer.

Latest Display

Liverpool's boss likely seen the irony of the player's initial score against the opponent recently. Struck first time with the outside of his left foot inside the close post, Salah's eighth score of the national team's World Cup qualifying campaign came from an very similar location to his costly miss against Chelsea before the break for internationals.

If that shot with his right been scored moments after the resumption at Stamford Bridge we would still be praising the new signing's maiden sublime setup in the league. Discussions into Salah's decline and the team's rare defeat streak might also have been delayed. Rather, Wirtz's wait continues while Slot fumes over a third defeat away, a couple inflicted by late goals and one the outcome of a disputed penalty. Fine lines, as Slot reiterated on Friday, but they do not mask bigger issues.

Last Season's Influence

The forward was key in propelling Liverpool towards a historic 20th league title last season while uncertainty over his career rumbled in the background. “We brought nearly the best out of Mo that campaign,” said the manager when his main attacker signed a fresh deal in the spring. We have seen a noticeable decrease on an personal and team level since. The squad, not the terms of a deal, are responsible.

Performance Decline

His output in terms of scores and setups is down 50% on the corresponding stage last season, from a combined eight in the first seven fixtures of 2024-25 to 4 (two goals and a couple of assists) the current campaign. The count of attempts has decreased from 22 to 12 while efforts on goal have declined from fifteen to five, contributing to a significant decline in conversion rate (excluding blocks) from 78.9 percent to 55.6 percent, statistics show.

One attribute that has remained consistent is Salah's creativity. With twelve chances created, versus 14 at the equivalent point of the previous season, his figures remain among the best in Europe and comparable in the ranks of young talents and rising stars, his younger counterparts by 15 and thirteen years respectively.

Team Output

Indicators of team output will worry Slot additionally. He had 76 contacts in the opposition box in the opening seven fixtures of last season. The current campaign's count is thirty-nine. These figures are symptomatic of the team's issues as a whole. Just Manchester United and Arsenal have attempted more shots on goal than them this season, but Liverpool's proportion of attempts from within the six-yard box is the smallest in the Premier League, their percentage from outside the area among the highest. The club's proportion of accurate shots – 28.4 percent – is as well among the weakest in the league.

During the initial phase of last season we mainly found the net from an individual brilliance from a forward and in the second half it was mostly from a dead ball,” Slot said. “Currently we lack as many sparks of quality and we haven’t scored from dead balls. But we are nonetheless the team that from open play produces the highest expected goals opportunities.”

Summer Arrivals

They are not beating foes in the manner Slot envisaged when Florian Wirtz, the French forward and the Swedish striker were brought on board recently, though the team stay the division's joint third-highest goalscorers. A tie on the weekend would be enough for him to reach the 100-point total in less games than any coach in Liverpool's history (forty-six). Think what his offense will do when it does settle. Liverpool are still a team of exceptional talent, able to starting and catching any rival for the title, but cohesion is absent. This cannot be blamed on the new signings only.

Personal and Team Problems

Salah is not the sole senior player to experience a drop-off, with Alexis Mac Allister regaining to fitness and Ibrahima Konaté laboring. But he is at the heart of the upheaval that has recently enveloped the club. This goes to a personal level, with Salah's sorrow over the loss of Diogo Jota obvious on that poignant season opener against the Cherries. The impact of Jota's death can neither be quantified nor ignored.

Strategic Adjustments

In the prior campaign, he