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It's been some time, but Mohamed Salah reappeared playing the starring role last week with two goals in Casablanca that sealed Egypt's position at the 2026 World Cup. The star claiming the limelight another time. Liverpool require him to stay there.

Factors for Variable Showings

There exist numerous causes why variable, lackluster displays have been the frequent pattern characterizing the team's opening to their title defence, whether they produced seven wins in a row or, before Manchester United's trip to Liverpool's home ground on Sunday, three losses in a row. The upheaval from so many new signings, Arne Slot's search for his top team, Diogo Jota's passing; the winger has endured the effect of them all during his unusually quiet start to the season.

The Weekend's Showpiece Occasion

Sunday's showpiece occasion could provide the spark for the origin of a record 16 scores in 17 games for Liverpool against Manchester United, who are making their 100th visit to the stadium and have not triumphed at their fierce rivals for more than nine years. The attacker will create Slot with an additional unexpected problem, yet, if he continue caught in the turmoil for an extended period.

Recent Performance

Liverpool's head coach must have seen the irony of Salah's opening strike against Djibouti in midweek. Swept immediately with the outside of his stronger foot inside the close post, Salah's eighth goal of the national team's World Cup qualifying campaign came from an nearly the same spot to his big mistake versus Chelsea prior to the international break.

If that right-foot effort been scored shortly after the restart at Chelsea's ground we would still be praising Florian Wirtz's maiden sublime setup in the Premier League. Discussions into his drop and the team's infrequent losing streak might also have been delayed. Rather, Wirtz's wait persists while Slot fumes over a third consecutive loss on the road, two due to late goals and one the result of a disputed penalty. Fine lines, as he repeated on Friday, but they do not camouflage bigger issues.

Previous Campaign's Contribution

The forward was key in driving the side towards a tying 20th championship the previous term while uncertainty over his career lingered in the background. “We brought nearly the best out of Salah this season,” said the manager when his top scorer signed a fresh deal in the spring. There has been a obvious decline on an individual and collective level from then. The team, not the details of a contract, are responsible.

Performance Decrease

His output in terms of scores and assists is lower 50% on the same point the prior campaign, from a total 8 in the initial seven league games of 2024-25 to 4 (two goals and two assists) this term. His tally of shots has decreased from twenty-two to twelve while efforts on goal have fallen from fifteen to 5, contributing to a significant decline in conversion rate (not counting blocks) from 78.9% to 55.6 percent, statistics show.

A single trait that has held more steady is Salah's creativity. With 12 chances created, against fourteen at the comparable period of the previous season, his stats stay among the top in Europe and comparable in the group of Lamine Yamal and Arda Güler, his younger counterparts by fifteen and thirteen years each.

Collective Output

Indicators of collective performance will trouble the coach more. He had 76 touches in the enemy box in the opening seven fixtures of the previous term. This season's total is thirty-nine. The stats are indicative of the squad's issues as a whole. Just United and Arsenal have attempted a greater number of attempts on goal than them this season, but the team's rate of attempts from within the goal area is the poorest in the Premier League, their share from distance among the greatest. The club's proportion of efforts on goal – 28.4 percent – is as well among the poorest in the competition.

“In the first half of last season we primarily found the net from a special moment from a forward and in the second half it was mostly from a free-kick or corner,” the manager said. “This season we haven’t had as many moments of genius and we have not found the net from set pieces. But we are nonetheless the side that from general play generates the highest xG chances.”

New Signings

They are not punishing rivals in the manner Slot imagined when Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitiké and Alexander Isak were acquired recently, while the team stay the division's equal third-top scorers. A draw on the weekend would be sufficient for Slot to reach the 100-point total in fewer games than any coach in the club's history (forty-six). Think what his offense will do when it does settle. Liverpool are still a squad of outstanding talent, equipped to sparking and catching any opponent for the title, but unity is missing. That cannot be attributed on the recent arrivals by themselves.

Personal and Collective Problems

Salah is not the sole senior player to experience a decline, with the midfielder returning to match sharpness and Ibrahima Konaté laboring. But he ends up at the heart of the upheaval that has of late engulfed Liverpool. That extends to a personal level, with Salah's sorrow over the death of Jota obvious on that poignant first game against Bournemouth. The effect of Jota's loss can neither be assessed nor overlooked.

Tactical Changes

Last season, he