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It's been some time, but Liverpool's forward was back playing the main part last week with a brace in Casablanca that sealed Egypt's place at the 2026 World Cup. The key player taking the limelight another time. Liverpool must have him to remain there.

Causes for Inconsistent Showings

We see numerous causes why variable, unimpressive performances have been the recurring theme running through the team's beginning to their championship defense, whether they recorded seven straight victories or, before the Red Devils' visit to Liverpool's home ground on the weekend, a losing run. The upheaval from so many summer changes, Arne Slot's search for his ideal lineup, the late forward's loss; the winger has endured the effect of them all during his uncharacteristically subdued beginning to the campaign.

Sunday's Showpiece Occasion

The weekend's key fixture could offer the spark for the source of a record 16 goals in 17 games for Liverpool against Manchester United, who are paying their 100th visit to Anfield and have not won at their archrivals for more than nine years. Salah will pose Slot with another unexpected problem, though, should he remain caught in the upheaval much longer.

Recent Display

Liverpool's boss likely noticed the contrast of the player's first goal against Djibouti last Wednesday. Swept immediately with the outside of his stronger foot inside the close post, his eighth score of Egypt's qualifying effort came from an almost identical spot to his expensive error in the Chelsea match prior to the national team pause.

Had that attempt been scored moments after the resumption at Chelsea's ground we would even now be eulogising the new signing's first sublime assist in the English top flight. Analyses into his drop and the team's rare losing streak might as well have been avoided. Instead, the midfielder's search continues while Slot fumes over a third consecutive away defeat, two inflicted by dying-minute strikes and another the result of a disputed penalty. Fine lines, as he repeated on recently, but they cannot hide bigger issues.

Previous Campaign's Influence

The forward was crucial in driving the side towards a tying 20th crown the prior campaign while doubt over his career rumbled in the backdrop. We extracted almost the best out of Salah this season,” said Slot when his top scorer signed a fresh deal in April. There has been a obvious decline on an individual and team level since. The squad, not the details of a contract, are accountable.

Statistical Decrease

The 33-year-old's contribution in terms of scores and setups is lower 50% on the corresponding point last season, from a combined eight in the first seven matches of 2024-25 to four (a pair of goals and two assists) this term. The count of attempts has fallen from 22 to twelve while accurate shots have dropped from fifteen to five, contributing to a steep decline in shot accuracy (excluding blocks) from 78.9 percent to 55.6 percent, data show.

A single trait that has remained consistent is his creativity. With 12 key passes, compared with 14 at the comparable period of last campaign, his stats stay among the top in Europe and comparable in the ranks of Lamine Yamal and Arda Güler, his younger counterparts by 15 and thirteen years respectively.

Collective Output

Measures of team output will worry the coach more. Salah had 76 contacts in the enemy box in the initial seven fixtures of the previous term. This season's count is thirty-nine. The numbers are reflective of the squad's problems overall. Only United and Arsenal have taken a greater number of shots on goal than them now, but Liverpool's rate of attempts from within the goal area is the smallest in the top flight, their ratio from outside the area among the highest. Liverpool's proportion of efforts on goal – 28.4% – is as well among the poorest in the league.

During the initial phase of last season we mainly scored from a moment of magic from an attacker and in the second half it was more from a set piece,” Slot said. “This season we lack as many acts of brilliance and we have not found the net from dead balls. But we are still the side that from general play generates the highest xG chances.”

Recent Additions

They aren't beating foes in the way the coach envisaged when Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitiké and the Swedish striker were signed in the offseason, while the team remain the division's joint third-highest scorers. A draw on Sunday would be enough for him to attain the century of points in less games than any coach in the club's past (46). Imagine what his attack will do when it does settle. Liverpool remain a squad of supreme talent, equipped to igniting and reeling in any rival for the championship, but unity is missing. That cannot be attributed on the recent arrivals only.

Individual and Collective Problems

Salah is not the sole key member to experience a decline, with Alexis Mac Allister regaining to match sharpness and the defender toiling. But he ends up at the heart of the turmoil that has of late engulfed Liverpool. That applies to a personal level, with his sorrow over the loss of Jota evident on that emotional season opener against Bournemouth. The effect of Jota's tragedy can not be assessed nor ignored.

Tactical Adjustments

Previously, he