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It's been a period, but Mohamed Salah was back playing the main part in recent days with two goals in Casablanca that confirmed the Egyptian team's position at the 2026 World Cup. The key player taking the spotlight yet again. The Merseyside club need him to keep that position.

Reasons for Unsteady Performances

There are numerous factors why variable, unimpressive showings have been the common thread defining Liverpool's opening to their championship defense, if they achieved a winning streak or, before the Red Devils' visit to Anfield on the weekend, three losses in a row. The disruption from numerous summer changes, Arne Slot's hunt for his best XI, the late forward's passing; Salah has endured the consequences of them all during his atypically quiet opening to the season.

Sunday's Key Fixture

Sunday's key fixture could provide the catalyst for the origin of a impressive 16 strikes in 17 appearances for the club against United, who are making their 100th visit to Anfield and have not triumphed at their fierce rivals for more than nine years. Salah will pose the manager with a further unexpected problem, however, should he continue lost in the turmoil for an extended period.

Recent Performance

Liverpool's head coach must have recognized the irony of Salah's opening strike against the opponent last Wednesday. Struck immediately with the outside of his stronger foot inside the front post, his eighth goal of Egypt's qualification run originated from an very similar spot to his expensive error versus Chelsea prior to the national team pause.

If that right-foot effort been finished moments after the restart at Chelsea's ground we would even now be praising the new signing's maiden sublime setup in the league. Discussions into his decline and Liverpool's unusual losing run might as well have been avoided. Rather, the midfielder's wait continues while Slot stews over a third loss on the road, a couple caused by late goals and another the result of a debatable penalty. Narrow differences, as Slot emphasized on recently, but they do not camouflage underlying concerns.

Previous Campaign's Contribution

Salah was instrumental in driving the side towards a historic 20th crown the prior campaign while doubt over his career rumbled in the backdrop. We extracted almost the utmost out of Mo that campaign,” said Slot when his main attacker signed a fresh deal in April. We have seen a clear drop-off on an individual and team level since. The team, not the details of a contract, are responsible.

Performance Decline

His contribution in terms of goals and setups is lower half on the same stage the previous term, from a total 8 in the opening seven matches of last season to 4 (two goals and two assists) this term. His number of shots has decreased from twenty-two to twelve while shots on target have dropped from fifteen to 5, leading to a sharp decline in shot accuracy (excluding blocks) from 78.9% to 55.6%, statistics show.

A single trait that has held more steady is Salah's chance creation. With 12 chances created, against 14 at the comparable period of the previous season, his numbers remain among the finest in Europe and up in the ranks of Lamine Yamal and Arda Güler, his younger counterparts by fifteen and thirteen years respectively.

Team Performance

Metrics of team display will worry the coach more. He had seventy-six touches in the enemy box in the initial seven fixtures of the prior campaign. This season's tally is thirty-nine. The numbers are symptomatic of the team's problems in general. Just Manchester United and Arsenal have attempted a greater number of attempts on goal than Liverpool in the current term, but Liverpool's rate of attempts from within the six-yard area is the smallest in the division, their percentage from long range among the greatest. Liverpool's rate of efforts on goal – 28.4% – is as well among the poorest in the competition.

“In the first half of last season we mostly found the net from a moment of magic from an attacker and in the later stage it was more from a set piece,” the manager said. “This season we haven’t had as many moments of genius and we haven’t scored from set pieces. But we are still the side that from open play creates the most xG chances.”

Summer Arrivals

They are not beating opponents in the way Slot imagined when Wirtz, the French forward and Alexander Isak were brought on board recently, though Liverpool are the league's joint third-highest goalscorers. A tie on Sunday would be enough for Slot to achieve the 100-point total in less games than any boss in the club's history (46). Consider what his forward line will do when it clicks. Liverpool remain a squad of outstanding individual quality, able to igniting and catching any opponent for the championship, but unity is missing. This can not be blamed on the new signings only.

Personal and Team Challenges

The player is not the sole key player to experience a dip, with Alexis Mac Allister returning to match sharpness and the defender struggling. But he ends up at the center of the upheaval that has lately enveloped the club. This extends to a personal level, with Salah's sorrow over the death of Jota evident on that heartfelt season opener against Bournemouth. The impact of his death can not be assessed nor overlooked.

Tactical Adjustments

In the prior campaign, he