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It's been some time, but Mohamed Salah returned taking on the lead part last week with a brace in Casablanca that sealed the Egyptian team's position at the global tournament. The key player taking center stage yet again. The Merseyside club need him to remain there.

Factors for Unsteady Performances

We see numerous causes why variable, unconvincing showings have been the frequent pattern running through Liverpool's opening to their title defence, if they recorded seven straight victories or, prior to the Red Devils' visit to Liverpool's home ground on the weekend, a losing run. The disruption from multiple summer changes, the coach's quest for his top team, the late forward's tragic death; Salah has endured the effect of them all during his atypically low-key start to the campaign.

Sunday's Key Fixture

The weekend's showpiece occasion could provide the impetus for the cause of a record 16 scores in 17 appearances for the club against United, who are paying their centenary trip to Anfield and have not triumphed at their fierce rivals for more than nine years. Salah will pose the manager with an additional unexpected problem, though, if he continue lost in the upheaval for an extended period.

Latest Form

The team's boss must have seen the contrast of Salah's opening strike against Djibouti last Wednesday. Struck first time with the outside of his stronger foot into the near post, Salah's eighth goal of the national team's World Cup qualifying campaign originated from an nearly the same position to his expensive error in the Chelsea match before the break for internationals.

Had that attempt been scored moments after the restart at Chelsea's ground we would even now be praising the new signing's maiden excellent assist in the league. Inquests into his decline and the team's unusual losing streak might as well have been avoided. Instead, the midfielder's wait continues while the coach stews over a third away defeat, a couple inflicted by late goals and another the outcome of a debatable penalty. Fine lines, as Slot repeated on Friday, but they do not mask larger problems.

Last Season's Influence

Salah was instrumental in pushing Liverpool towards a tying 20th championship last season while speculation over his future rumbled in the backdrop. We extracted nearly the maximum out of Salah that campaign,” said the manager when his leading striker signed an extension in the spring. There has been a clear decline on an personal and team level from then. The lineup, not the details of a deal, are responsible.

Performance Decline

His output in terms of goals and setups is reduced half on the same stage last season, from a total 8 in the first seven fixtures of 2024-25 to four (two goals and two assists) this season. His number of attempts has fallen from 22 to twelve while accurate shots have dropped from 15 to 5, leading to a significant decline in shooting accuracy (not counting blocks) from 78.9% to 55.6%, data show.

A single trait that has remained consistent is his creativity. With 12 opportunities made, against 14 at the comparable period of last term, his numbers remain among the finest in the continent and comparable in the company of Lamine Yamal and Arda Güler, his juniors by 15 and thirteen years respectively.

Collective Output

Measures of team performance will concern Slot more. He had seventy-six touches in the opposition box in the opening seven fixtures of the previous term. The current campaign's total is thirty-nine. These figures are symptomatic of the team's difficulties as a whole. Just United and Arsenal have tried a greater number of attempts on goal than Liverpool in the current term, but Liverpool's proportion of shots from inside the goal area is the poorest in the division, their ratio from outside the area among the greatest. Liverpool's proportion of efforts on goal – 28.4% – is also among the poorest in the competition.

“In the first half of the previous campaign we mostly scored from a special moment from an attacker and in the later stage it was more from a free-kick or corner,” the manager said. “Currently we have not seen as many sparks of quality and we haven’t scored from dead balls. But we are nonetheless the team that from general play produces the highest expected goals opportunities.”

New Signings

They aren't hurting opponents in the way the coach planned when Wirtz, the French forward and the Swedish striker were signed in the offseason, though the team are the league's third-best goalscorers. A tie on the weekend would be sufficient for Slot to reach the 100-point total in fewer games than any manager in Liverpool's history (forty-six). Think what his attack will do when it clicks. Liverpool are still a squad of outstanding talent, equipped to starting and chasing any opponent for the title, but cohesion is lacking. This can not be attributed on the new signings alone.

Personal and Team Issues

The player is not the sole key player to experience a drop-off, with the midfielder returning to fitness and the defender toiling. But he finds himself at the heart of the turmoil that has of late affected the club. This applies to a individual level, with his sadness over the death of Diogo Jota evident on that heartfelt first game against Bournemouth. The influence of his death can not be measured nor overlooked.

Tactical Shifts

Last season, he