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It's been a while, but Liverpool's forward was back taking on the starring role last week with two goals in Casablanca that sealed the Egyptian team's spot at the 2026 World Cup. The main man stepping on the spotlight another time. The Merseyside club require him to remain there.

Causes for Variable Performances

There are numerous factors why inconsistent, lackluster displays have been the recurring theme defining the team's start to their league defense, if they recorded a winning streak or, prior to Manchester United's arrival to Liverpool's home ground on the weekend, three consecutive defeats. The upheaval from numerous new signings, Arne Slot's hunt for his best XI, Diogo Jota's tragic death; the winger has endured the impact of them all during his unusually quiet opening to the term.

Sunday's Key Fixture

The weekend's key fixture could deliver the spark for the cause of a impressive 16 scores in 17 outings for the club against United, who are making their 100th appearance to Anfield and have not succeeded at their biggest foes for over nine years. The attacker will create Slot with another surprise issue, yet, if he continue caught in the upheaval much longer.

Recent Performance

The team's head coach must have seen the irony of Salah's first goal against Djibouti in midweek. Drilled first time with the outside of his stronger foot into the close post, Salah's eighth goal of Egypt's qualification run originated from an nearly the same spot to his expensive error versus Chelsea prior to the national team pause.

If that attempt been finished moments after the resumption at Chelsea's ground we would even now be celebrating Florian Wirtz's maiden sublime pass in the English top flight. Discussions into his drop and Liverpool's unusual losing streak might also have been postponed. Instead, the midfielder's search persists while Slot broods over a third defeat away, a couple inflicted by late goals and one the result of a controversial spot-kick. Narrow differences, as he emphasized on Friday, but they do not camouflage bigger issues.

Last Season's Contribution

Salah was crucial in pushing the side towards a tying 20th championship the prior campaign while doubt over his career lingered in the backdrop. We extracted nearly the best out of Salah that campaign,” said the manager when his top scorer signed a new two‑year contract in the spring. There has been a obvious drop-off on an personal and team level from then. The lineup, not the terms of a deal, are accountable.

Performance Drop

The 33-year-old's contribution in terms of goals and assists is lower half on the same point the prior campaign, from a combined 8 in the initial seven league games of last season to four (a pair of goals and two assists) this term. His number of shots has dropped from 22 to twelve while accurate shots have fallen from 15 to five, causing a steep fall in conversion rate (not counting blocks) from 78.9% to 55.6%, statistics show.

A particular skill that has remained consistent is his playmaking. With 12 opportunities made, compared with fourteen at the same stage of last term, his stats are among the top in the continent and up in the group of Lamine Yamal and Arda Güler, his younger counterparts by fifteen and thirteen years each.

Team Display

Indicators of team output will concern Slot further. Salah had seventy-six contacts in the opposition box in the opening seven matches of the previous term. This term's tally is 39. The numbers are reflective of the team's issues in general. Only United and the Gunners have tried a greater number of attempts on goal than Liverpool this season, but the team's proportion of attempts from within the six-yard box is the poorest in the division, their ratio from long range among the top. Liverpool's percentage of efforts on goal – 28.4% – is as well among the poorest in the league.

During the initial phase of the previous campaign we primarily scored from an individual brilliance from a forward and in the later stage it was more from a free-kick or corner,” Slot said. “This season we lack as numerous moments of genius and we have not found the net from set pieces. But we are nonetheless the team that from open play generates the highest xG chances.”

Summer Arrivals

They aren't hurting opponents in the fashion Slot imagined when Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitiké and the Swedish striker were brought on board this summer, although Liverpool are the division's equal third-top goalscorers. A tie on Sunday would be enough for Slot to achieve the century of points in less games than any coach in Liverpool's past (forty-six). Imagine what his offense will do when it finally gels. Liverpool are still a team of outstanding individual quality, able to igniting and chasing any foe for the championship, but synergy is missing. That can not be pinned on the summer recruits by themselves.

Individual and Team Issues

The player is not the only key player to suffer a drop-off, with the midfielder returning to form and Ibrahima Konaté struggling. But he is at the center of the upheaval that has of late enveloped the club. That goes to a personal level, with his sadness over the death of Jota obvious on that heartfelt first game against Bournemouth. The influence of his loss can neither be quantified nor dismissed.

Tactical Shifts

Last season, he