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It has been some time, but the Egyptian star returned playing the lead part in recent days with two goals in Casablanca that secured the Egyptian team's place at the upcoming World Cup. The main man taking the spotlight another time. The Merseyside club must have him to stay there.

Causes for Inconsistent Performances

There exist numerous reasons why variable, unimpressive displays have been the common thread defining the team's start to their league defense, whether they achieved seven straight victories or, prior to the Red Devils' visit to Anfield on Sunday, a losing run. The turmoil from so many summer changes, the coach's hunt for his top team, the late forward's tragic death; the winger has felt the impact of them all during his atypically subdued beginning to the season.

Sunday's Key Fixture

Sunday's big match could provide the impetus for the origin of a impressive 16 strikes in 17 appearances for the club against Manchester United, who are making their 100th appearance to Anfield and have not won at their fierce rivals for more than nine years. Salah will pose Slot with a further unexpected problem, though, should he remain lost in the disruption for an extended period.

Latest Display

The team's boss must have noticed the paradox of the player's opening strike against the opponent recently. Struck first time with the exterior of his left foot into the front post, Salah's eighth strike of Egypt's qualification run was from an very similar location to his expensive error against Chelsea before the break for internationals.

Had that attempt been scored shortly after the restart at Stamford Bridge we would even now be praising Florian Wirtz's maiden sublime pass in the Premier League. Discussions into his decline and Liverpool's rare losing streak might also have been avoided. Instead, Wirtz's wait continues while the coach fumes over a third consecutive loss on the road, a couple inflicted by last-minute winners and one the outcome of a disputed penalty. Fine lines, as Slot emphasized on recently, but they do not camouflage underlying concerns.

Previous Campaign's Impact

Salah was crucial in propelling Liverpool towards a record-equalling 20th championship last season while uncertainty over his career persisted in the background. We extracted almost the utmost out of Salah last term,” said the manager when his leading striker signed a new two‑year contract in the spring. We have seen a obvious decline on an individual and team level from then. The lineup, not the details of a deal, are responsible.

Performance Decrease

The 33-year-old's contribution in terms of scores and assists is down 50% on the corresponding point the prior campaign, from a total 8 in the opening seven matches of 2024-25 to 4 (two goals and a couple of assists) this term. His number of shots has fallen from 22 to 12 while shots on target have fallen from 15 to five, contributing to a sharp decline in shot accuracy (excluding blocks) from 78.9% to 55.6 percent, figures show.

A particular skill that has stayed stable is his chance creation. With 12 chances created, against 14 at the same stage of last campaign, his numbers are among the best in Europe and up in the ranks of Lamine Yamal and Arda Güler, his juniors by 15 and thirteen years respectively.

Team Output

Indicators of collective display will trouble Slot additionally. He had seventy-six contacts in the enemy box in the initial seven fixtures of last season. This season's tally is thirty-nine. The stats are reflective of the squad's problems as a whole. Just Manchester United and Arsenal have tried a greater number of shots on goal than them in the current term, but Liverpool's percentage of attempts from inside the six-yard area is the smallest in the Premier League, their percentage from outside the area among the greatest. Liverpool's rate of efforts on goal – 28.4% – is as well among the weakest in the competition.

“In the first half of the previous campaign we mainly scored from a moment of magic from one of our front three and in the later stage it was mostly from a set piece,” Slot said. “Currently we lack as many acts of brilliance and we haven’t scored from set pieces. But we are still the team that from live action creates the most expected goals opportunities.”

Summer Arrivals

They aren't beating opponents in the manner Slot envisaged when Wirtz, the French forward and Alexander Isak were signed this summer, while Liverpool stay the league's equal third-top goalscorers. A draw on the weekend would be sufficient for him to achieve the century of points in fewer games than any manager in the club's past (forty-six). Imagine what his forward line will do when it finally gels. The side are still a squad of exceptional talent, able to starting and catching any opponent for the championship, but synergy is lacking. That cannot be pinned on the recent arrivals by themselves.

Individual and Team Issues

The player is not the only established member to experience a dip, with the midfielder regaining to fitness and Ibrahima Konaté struggling. But he is at the heart of the upheaval that has lately engulfed Liverpool. This extends to a individual level, with Salah's grief over the death of Diogo Jota obvious on that emotional opening night against Bournemouth. The effect of his death can not be quantified nor overlooked.

Tactical Shifts

In the prior campaign, he