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It has been a period, but the Egyptian star was back taking on the main part last week with a double in Casablanca that confirmed Egypt's place at the 2026 World Cup. The key player stepping on center stage once more. The Reds must have him to remain there.

Causes for Inconsistent Displays

We see several factors why unsteady, unconvincing showings have been the frequent pattern defining the team's beginning to their title defence, whether they achieved a winning streak or, prior to Manchester United's trip to Liverpool's home ground on the weekend, a losing run. The upheaval from numerous summer changes, Arne Slot's quest for his ideal lineup, Diogo Jota's tragic death; Salah has endured the consequences of them all during his uncharacteristically low-key start to the term.

Sunday's Showpiece Occasion

Sunday's key fixture could offer the impetus for the cause of a impressive 16 goals in 17 appearances for Liverpool against Manchester United, who are paying their centenary trip to Anfield and have not succeeded at their archrivals for more than nine years. The attacker will create Slot with an additional unexpected problem, though, if he stay caught in the upheaval for an extended period.

Current Display

Liverpool's head coach must have noticed the contrast of the player's initial score against the opponent in midweek. Swept first time with the outside of his left foot into the near post, his eighth score of the national team's qualification run came from an nearly the same position to his expensive error against Chelsea before the break for internationals.

Had that right-foot effort been finished moments after the restart at Chelsea's ground we would still be praising the new signing's first superb assist in the English top flight. Inquests into his dip and the team's rare defeat streak might as well have been postponed. Rather, the midfielder's wait persists while Slot fumes over a third defeat away, a couple due to late goals and one the result of a controversial spot-kick. Fine lines, as he emphasized on Friday, but they do not mask underlying concerns.

Last Season's Influence

The forward was crucial in propelling the side towards a tying 20th championship the prior campaign while uncertainty over his long-term plans persisted in the background. “We brought nearly the maximum out of Mo this season,” said the manager when his top scorer signed a fresh deal in April. There has been a clear decline on an individual and collective level from then. The squad, not the terms of a contract, are responsible.

Performance Decline

His production in terms of goals and setups is reduced half on the same stage the previous term, from a total 8 in the first seven fixtures of 2024-25 to 4 (two goals and two assists) this term. The count of attempts has decreased from 22 to 12 while efforts on goal have fallen from fifteen to 5, leading to a steep decline in conversion rate (excluding blocks) from 78.9 percent to 55.6 percent, figures show.

One attribute that has held more steady is Salah's playmaking. With 12 chances created, versus fourteen at the same stage of the previous season, his numbers are among the top in Europe and up in the group of Lamine Yamal and Arda Güler, his juniors by 15 and 13 years respectively.

Collective Display

Indicators of collective display will trouble the coach more. He had seventy-six touches in the opposition box in the opening seven league games of last season. This season's count is thirty-nine. The stats are indicative of the team's problems overall. Just United and Arsenal have attempted a greater number of shots on goal than them in the current term, but Liverpool's percentage of attempts from within the goal area is the lowest in the top flight, their percentage from long range among the greatest. Liverpool's percentage of accurate shots – 28.4 percent – is also among the poorest in the league.

During the initial phase of last season we mostly scored from a moment of magic from an attacker and in the second half it was more from a set piece,” the manager said. “Now we lack as numerous sparks of quality and we have not found the net from set pieces. But we are nonetheless the side that from general play creates the most xG chances.”

New Signings

They are not beating opponents in the fashion Slot imagined when Florian Wirtz, the French forward and Alexander Isak were signed this summer, although the team are the division's third-best goalscorers. A tie on Sunday would be sufficient for him to reach the 100-point total in fewer games than any manager in Liverpool's past (46). Consider what his forward line will do when it clicks. Liverpool are still a team of supreme skill, equipped to sparking and catching any opponent for the title, but synergy is lacking. This can not be blamed on the recent arrivals alone.

Individual and Team Problems

Salah is not the sole senior player to experience a drop-off, with Alexis Mac Allister regaining to form and the defender laboring. But he ends up at the center of the upheaval that has recently enveloped the club. This applies to a individual level, with Salah's sorrow over the death of Jota clear on that emotional opening night against Bournemouth. The influence of his loss can not be measured nor overlooked.

Strategic Shifts

In the prior campaign, he